Caltech’s Situation Evaluated

Edmund Newton’s article (The Times, Jan. 12) seemed to imply that Caltech is sunk in a miasma of gloom. That implication is quite misleading.

While it is true that funding from the federal government is somewhat harder to come by these days, at Caltech we have always recognized that such funding sources are uncertain and cannot be totally relied upon. We have been most fortunate at Caltech in having a large number of generous private benefactors.

We are currently engaged in the first year of a three-year capital campaign called the Campaign for Caltech: A Second Century of Discovery. As of Dec. 31, 1991, we had raised $244 million of our goal of $350 million, which puts us well ahead of schedule.

As to job prospects for our graduates, it is true that there are fewer academic positions available today, largely because the recession has had a disproportionate effect at state universities, which in the past have provided many openings.

But there is no evidence that Caltech graduates are faring any worse than graduates from other institutions, and the average starting salary offer from non-academic organizations for 1991 Caltech Ph.D.s was $54,330, well above the national average.

As Caltech begins its second century, the campus mood I sense is not one of gloom and doom. Rather it is a mood of cautious optimism, confidence that our focus on excellence, our choice of important topics of research, and above all, the quality of our faculty, students and staff will enable us to continue to serve the nation well, and will ensure our future.

THOMAS E. EVERHART

President, Caltech

Pasadena