Northeastern University President Richard Freeland To Step Down;
Board of Trustees Chair Praises Freeland's Decade of Leadership

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 24, 2005--Northeastern University
President Richard M. Freeland has informed the University's Board of
Trustees of his intention to step down at the end of the 2005-06
academic year, which will be the tenth year of his presidency.


Dr. Freeland's tenure as President has been a transformative period
for Northeastern.

When appointed in 1996, President Freeland was charged by the Board
with repositioning Northeastern, moving it from the commuter school
it was viewed as to a university more selective in admissions, more
ambitious in scholarship, and more national in influence. The most
telling symbol of the university's success in accomplishing these
goals has been Northeastern's rise in the annual US News ranking
of "best national colleges." In the last five years, the university
has made steady progress, rising from 150 in 2002 to 115 in 2006.
The 2005 and 2006 scores placed Northeastern in the top tier of the
rankings for the first time in its history. For the fall of 2005,
over 25,000 students applied for just 2800 freshman places.

Freeland expressed pride that Northeastern's transformation has been
accomplished by focusing on the University's core values as
a "student-centered, practice-oriented, and urban" institution. The
University's flagship co-op program has been retooled to emphasize
its contribution to student learning. Engagement with the urban
community has been extended and deepened through partnerships to
build affordable housing in Roxbury, provide health care in
community-based centers, and train teachers for the city's schools.
Attention to student development has continued to be Northeastern's
central focus. The financial aid budget has increased by over 300%
in the last ten years to keep the university accessible to students
of limited financial means.

Freeland has given particular emphasis to establishing Northeastern
as a national leader in "practice-oriented education," an approach
to student development that integrates classroom study with
workplace experience and academic work in the liberal arts and
sciences with studies in professional disciplines. In a 2004 article
in the Atlantic Monthly titled "The Third Way," Freeland argued that
practice-oriented education is achieving recognition as a powerful
alternative to more traditional educational approaches at some of
the nation's leading academic institutions.

During Freeland's years the University's academic, scholarship and
research expertise has grown significantly. The University has made
thirteen appointments of nationally known scholars to named chairs
or distinguished professorships and has achieved growing success as
a center for research, particularly in applied fields. In 2000 the
campus was designated an Engineering Research Center by the National
Science Foundation--one of only twenty two such centers in the
country--to develop and commercialize technology in the fields of
sensing and imaging. Last year Northeastern was one of six
institutions nationally to be selected by NSF as a center for
research in Nanotechnology. A new Center for Drug Discovery is the
keystone of the University's $10 million Biotech Initiative. The
Center for Urban and Regional Policy and the Center for Labor Market
Studies are two of region's most important sources of policy-
oriented scholarship on urban issues. In 2003 the university
launched a five-year, seventy-five million dollar Academic
Investment Plan to expand the faculty by one hundred professors.

"On behalf of the Board of Trustees and the Northeastern University
community I wish to express our tremendous gratitude to President
Freeland for his tireless efforts and unwavering dedication to
Northeastern and to making this University shine in every way," said
Neal F. Finnegan, Chairman of the Board of Trustees. "The physical
and academic transformation of Northeastern that he has overseen has
been nothing short of spectacular in terms of the impact that it has
had on our student body and on the City of Boston."

During Freeland's tenure, the face of the University changed
dramatically. Traditionally characterized by plain, utilitarian
buildings surrounded by acres of parking lots, the campus has been
transformed into an attractive urban oasis. Since 1996, Northeastern
has invested $455 million in new facilities and has built ten
student residence halls, new homes for the colleges of Health
Science and Computer and Information Science, a recreation and
squash facility, and a high rise parking garage, and has created an
entirely new west campus. Much of this was made possible by a
successful $200 million capital campaign. Within the last three
years the university has received three major awards for design
excellence, including the 2005 Harleston Parker Medal from the
Boston Society for Architects who have designated Northestern's new
16-story residential tower as "the most beautiful building in Boston
within the last ten years."

President Freeland commented: "At the time of my appointment I said
that the Northeastern presidency was the best job in American higher
education. That statement holds true today. I have felt truly
blessed to be part of the most constructive and engaged colleague
community I have ever experienced. It has been an honor and a
privilege and I am grateful to all the members of the Northeastern
community that have worked so hard over the past ten years."

Board Chairman Finnegan indicated that the Trustees will be
announcing a selection process to name Freeland's successor within
the next several days. During the year ahead Freeland will work with
the Board to assure a smooth transition. A new president is expected
to be in place by the summer of 2006.

Freeland indicated that he had no definite plans for the
future. "For the moment, I am focused on the challenges of the year
ahead, including further pursuit of our top one hundred goal,
completion of the leadership campaign, and drafting our new physical
master plan." He continued, "I plan to use a sabbatical during 2006-
07 to think about the next phase. It has been a great ten years, but
a decade is about right for the presidency of a major university. It
is time to give someone else a chance to lead this terrific
University. As for me, I'll be 65 next year, so there is time for
another chapter. I am not retiring, but looking forward to the next
challenge."

Northeastern University
Highlights of the Freeland Years

1995 2005

National Ranking (US News and World
Report) 162 (1995 ed.) 115 (2006 ed.)
Endowment $282 (FY96) $558M (FY05)
External Funding $22M (FY96) $46M (FY05)
Applications Received for Freshmen
Admissions 11,800 (fall 95) 25,500 (Fall
05)
Acceptance Rate for Freshmen
Admissions 85% 47%
Average SAT Scores of Entering
Freshmen 1008 1224
Percent of freshmen in Top 10% of
High School Class 16% 36%
Percent of Freshmen from Outside
Massachusetts 49% 66%
Percent Freshman of Color 21% 25%
Freshman to Sophomore Retention
Rate 71% (Fall 95) 88% (Fall 04)
Freshmen Graduating in Six Years 39% (Spring 95) 60% (Spring 05)


Additional Information

-- Level of external funding increased more than 100% in the
last
ten years.

-- 13 appointments of nationally known scholars were made to
named chairs or distinguished professorships.

-- Successfully led a $200 million capital campaign, the largest
in the history of Northeastern.

-- Percentage of students in university housing increased from
33% (fall 95) to 50% (fall 04).

-- New programs and research centers were established including
the New Center for Drug Discovery, which is the keystone of
the University's $10 million Biotech Initiative and the
Center
for Urban and Regional Policy, which has become a cornerstone
of the university's work in public policy.

-- Recognition and awards included the following:

-- In 2002, the campus was designated an Engineering
Research
Center by the National Science Foundation.

-- In 2004, NU was one of six institutions to be selected by
the National Science Foundation as a center for research
in Nanotechnology.

-- Since 2002, NU has received three major awards for design
excellence including the 2005 Harleston Parker Medal from
the Boston Society of Architects.

-- In 2003, the first and only year in which this ranking
was
done by US News, Northeastern ranked #1 in the country
for
universities that connect classroom study and workplace
experience.


About Northeastern

Northeastern University, located in the heart of Boston,
Massachusetts, is a world leader in practice-oriented education and
recognized for its expert faculty and first-rate academic and
research facilities. Northeastern integrates challenging liberal
arts and professional studies with the nation's largest cooperative
education program. Through co-op, Northeastern undergraduates
alternate semesters of full-time study with semesters of paid work
in fields relevant to their professional interests and major, giving
them nearly two years of professional experience upon graduation.
The majority of Northeastern graduates receive a job offer from a co-
op employer. Cited for excellence four years running by U.S. News &
World Report, Northeastern has quickly moved up into the top tier
rankings - an impressive 35 spots in four years. In addition,
Northeastern was named a top college in the 2006 edition of the
Princeton Review's annual "Best Colleges" issue. For more
information, please visit http://www.northeastern.edu.



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