Why most modern universities are not serving their purpose – Prof. David J. Helfand

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David Helfand joined Quest University Canada in 2005 as an advisor to the University. He was a visiting tutor during the University’s inaugural semester in the Fall of 2007 and, in September 2008, was appointed President and Vice-Chancellor of the University.

He has spent 35 years as a Professor of Astronomy at Columbia University where he served as Department Chair and co-Director of the Astrophysics Laboratory for more than half that time. He has also been a visiting faculty member at the University of Copenhagen and spent a year as the Sackler Distinguished Visiting Astronomer at the University of Cambridge.

He is the author of nearly 200 scientific publications covering many areas of modern astrophysics including radio, optical, and X-ray observations of celestial sources ranging from nearby stars to the most distant quasars. He recently completed a major project to survey the Galaxy with a sensitivity and angular resolution a hundred times greater than previously available. The goal is to obtain a complete picture of birth and death (for stars) in the Milky Way.

David has mentored twenty-one PhD students, but has primarily taught undergraduate courses for non-science majors, including one of his own design which treats the atom as a tool for revealing the quantitative history of everything from human diet and works of art to the Earth’s climate and the Universe. In 2004, he implemented a vision he began working on in 1982 that has all Columbia first-year students taking a science course as part of Columbia’s famed Core Curriculum. He received the 2001 Columbia Presidential Teaching Award and the 2002 Great Teacher Award from the Society of Columbia
Graduates.

In 2011, he was elected President of the American Astronomical Society, the professional organization of astronomers, astrophysicists, planetary scientists and solar physicists in North America. He will serve in that role until 2015.

A decade ago, David appeared weekly on the Discovery Channel’s program Science News, bringing the latest astronomical discoveries to the US television audience. More recently, his television appearances have been limited to more serious matters on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show and National Geographic’s The Known Universe. David believes he is a better cook than astronomer and, ambiguously, colleagues who have sampled his gastronomical undertakings agree.

Quest University

is Canada’s first independent, not-for-profit, secular university. Quest offers only one degree, a Bachelors of Arts and Sciences, and focuses entirely on excellence in undergraduate education.

Overview

Founded in 2002 by former University of British Columbia president Dr. David Strangway

Opened with a 73-student inaugural class on September 3, 2007

Current president: Dr. David Helfand

Degree

Bachelor of Arts and Sciences (4-year program)

Academics

Maximum 20 students in a class; average class size is 15

Courses scheduled on a “Block Plan” where students take one course at a time for three-and-a-half weeks

All small, interactive, seminar-style classes, in which faculty lead students through discussions and activities

12:1 student to faculty ratio

Each student has a faculty advisor all four years

Curriculum

2-year Foundation Program introduces students to fields across the arts and sciences

2-year upper-level Concentration Program allows students to design their own major with faculty input and guidance

All students engage in experiential learning off-campus

All students complete a major senior thesis or project

Multiple opportunities for field work, study abroad, and internships

Curricular emphasis on effective written and oral communication, critical thinking, personal and intellectual development, civic engagement, and employability

Campus & Location

Situated on a 60-acre hill-top campus on the edge of Garibaldi Provincial Park in Squamish, British Columbia.

Overlooking the spectacular Tantalus mountain range and Howe Sound, Canada’s southern-most fjord

Close proximity to both the city of Vancouver (1 hour) and Whistler Ski Resort (45 minutes)

Campus includes 4 residence halls, library, academic building, university services building, and recreation centre

“Green” buildings are geothermally heated and cooled