Hugo F. Sonnenschein

Hugo Freund Sonnenschein is a prominent American economist and educational administrator. Currently the Adam Smith Distinguished Service Professor in Economics at the University of Chicago, his specialty is microeconomic theory; with a particular interest in game theory. He served as the 11th president of the University of Chicago (1993-2000), and remains a member of the university's Board of Trustees. Previously, he served as Provost of Princeton University and Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania. Sonnenschein attended the University of Rochester for his undergraduate studies from 1957-1961, and received his Ph.D. in Economics from Purdue University in 1964. He is known for the Sonnenschein-Mantel-Debreu Theorem.

Curricular Reform Crisis

Sonnenschein became the center of a conflict during his presidential administration over the scope and form of the College’s core curriculum. While it had been transformed considerably since the tenure of President Robert Maynard Hutchins who gave it its genesis, the general education requirements of the College still required two years for completion without advanced standing, and were structured around largely non-elective sequences. Students, regardless of concentration, were required to gain a thorough grounding in great books as well as the traditional sciences and advanced mathematics. Such a position had long since been abandoned nearly in entirety by peer schools in favor of relatively minimal distribution requirements.

However, the University did not financially weather the otherwise boom years of the 1990’s well. According to consulting firm McKinsey & Company, which was hired to undertake an analysis of the school’s operations, the University’s tradition of student top-heavy graduate programs requiring considerable financial funding compared to the revenues being generated by collegiate tuition had resulted in several years of operating deficits. Ultimately, the imbalance was driving the University at large into dire financial straits, in the worst-case projections, insolvency. The firm subsequently recommended that the College expand its student body, and that a major capital raising campaign be prepared for within a decade.

At the time of the recommendations, the College was admitting the majority of students who applied, and subsequently it was feared by administrators that to fill additional spots an already unusually loose admissions system would have to be further relaxed. Parties on all sides of the later debate agreed that part of what was keeping admissions numbers low was many prospective students marked disinterest in the core curriculum. Sonneschein, having been pleased with the undergraduate program at Princeton where he had been previously Provost, subsequently moved to amend the set of courses to be more, “appealing to the average eighteen year old.” This move was seen as an erroneous step by those who believed the core gave the College its distinct identity, and that it furthermore was responsible for the steeped intellectual atmosphere on campus by providing a framework for learned interdisciplinary debate.

After the conflict began to be followed by publications such as "The Economist" and the "New York Times", the two camps settled on making largely marginal changes to the curriculum. More sequences across a wider variety of topics to fulfill each requirement would be offered, the total time to completion of the core would be reduced by roughly a quarter, and most prominently, the requirement that a year’s worth of a foreign language be learned on campus (irrespective of previous abilities) was dropped in favor of exit examinations. The philosophically divisive curricular changes eventually caused Sonnenschein to leave his post and return to teaching. He was replaced by the less controversial Don Michael Randel, who held more acceptable positions regarding the university's financial predicament as well as deeper respect for its academic traditions. However, roughly a decade after the changes, the financial footing of the University is once again strong, as the recommended capital campaign is successfully nearing completion. Admission to the college has declined sharply to the thirtieth percentile range. The appointment of Robert Zimmer in wake the Randel's resignation, whose views closely parallel Sonnenschein's and who believe further core reform is necessary, has been viewed as an implicit approval by the school's trustees to the long term impact of Sonnenschein's policies.

External links

* [http://home.uchicago.edu/~hfsonnen/ Hugo Sonnenschein Home Page]
* [http://presidentialsearch.uchicago.edu/presidents/sonnenschein.html Former presidents of the University of Chicago - Hugo Sonnenschein]