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	Summer student fellows, from left, Tiffany Psemeneki, Elizabeth Cushman, and Christie Wood rig a gravity corer aboard R/V Tioga in Buzzards Bay. (Jayne Doucette, WHOI Graphic Services)
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	Graduate student Celeste Fowler was a keen photographer. (Dana Yoerger, WHOI)
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Close interactivity between research and higher education and the exposure of students and postdocs to theoretical, experimental, and observational ocean sciences and engineering are at the heart of WHOI’s Academic Programs. External assessments provide us with one indication of the success of our efforts.

A nationwide survey of postdoctoral programs conducted by The Scientist magazine ranked the WHOI postdoctoral program among the top ten nationwide. The contents of the review have provided insights into where our program is on track and the few aspects in need of improvement.

An External Review Committee for the MIT-WHOI Joint Program in Oceanography and Applied Ocean Sciences and Engineering visited both MIT and WHOI in June. As with the previous two external reviews in 1989 and 1998, the comments on the overall quality of the program were laudatory: “The MIT/WHOI Joint Program remains a (if not the) top educational program covering all the marine sciences and engineering.” The report also suggested several areas for continuing innovation and improvement, improvement, such as strengthening opportunities for interdisciplinary research.

Thirty-one new students enrolled in the Joint Program, and the total fall 2004 enrollment was 139. The program awarded 15 doctoral and 4 master's degrees. The Joint Program Alumni/ae Association continues to be supportive of the Joint Program by offering advice to current students, providing evaluation of the Joint Program graduate education efforts, and contributing financial support for student research and career activities.

We were saddened by the loss of first-year graduate student Celeste Fowler (bottom photo), to metastatic melanoma. To honor her memory and love of photography, a Celeste Fowler Memorial Art Show was planned for January of 2005 and will become an annual event showcasing the diverse artistic talents of our graduate students.

The Summer Student Fellow and Minority Fellows Programs for undergraduates enjoyed another successful summer with 32 students from 27 universities and colleges involved in the summer-long research experience. This was the inaugural summer of an at-sea practicum for fellows in the use of coastal ocean sampling and measurement instruments aboard the new coastal research vessel Tioga (top photo).

In collaboration with partners in the Woods Hole scientific organizations, we led an effort to draft an memorandum of understanding signed in July by the presidents/ directors of these organizations to undertake a collaborative diversity initiative that offers pathways of increased opportunity in sciences and engineering.

Our partnership with New England Aquarium and the University of Massachusetts in the NSF funded New England Center for Ocean Science Education Excellence (COSEE) continued for the second year in K-12 formal and informal education activities along with the twice-yearly teacher workshops that are highly acclaimed by participating teachers.

I will step aside during 2005 after fifteen years as dean. I have been honored to be associated with WHOI’s Academic Programs and the superb group of students, postdocs, faculty, and staff involved in these activities.

—John W. Farrington (jfarrington@whoi.edu)
Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean