Farewell, and Thank You
DATE: June 29, 2023
TO: The NYU Community
FROM: NYU President Andrew Hamilton
Dear Members of the NYU Community,
As you know, at the end of the day tomorrow, I will step down as president of NYU. It has been an honor.
Thank you all for the opportunity to work alongside you to stoke NYU’s remarkable academic trajectory, build our faculty, advance our research efforts, recruit extraordinary students and help them succeed, improve financial aid and make strides on affordability, make this a more diverse community, strengthen our global presence and engagement, and make progress on sustainability.
Thank you for your comradeship and determination in facing the pandemic; your perseverance as we together overcame many hardships was exemplary.
Thank you for the confidence with which you entrusted me, and for giving me the opportunity to lead and to serve as your president.
And thank you for the warmth and generous spirit with which you embraced Jennie and me and made us feel at home from our first moments here.
From the joy and excitement of the NYU Welcome to the thrill and bittersweet pride of NYU’s Commencements in Yankee Stadium; from the passion of the March for Science in Washington, D.C., to the fun of the Greenwich Village Children’s Halloween Parade at Washington Square; from attending breathtaking performances of our artists to cheering on our athletes; for the privilege of bestowing degrees on graduates of our Prison Education Program, of seeing first-hand NYU’s global impact, of being able to share in the many, many honors given to our top scholars and students, of hearing the appreciation of people treated and healed by our healthcare professionals, of coming to know so many alumni, faculty colleagues, researchers, students, and administrators and staff members, I am filled with gratitude and indelible, cherished memories.
I look forward to being back on campus (whether in New York, Abu Dhabi or Shanghai) in the not too distant future and to resuming my scholarly work in chemistry and beyond. Until then, I offer all of you — and especially my colleague, friend, and successor, Linda Mills — my greatest good wishes.
Let me finish where I started: being the president of NYU has been the honor of my life.
Sincerely,
Andrew Hamilton