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The following Wikipedia contributors may be personally or professionally connected to the subject of this article. Relevant policies and guidelines may include
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This
edit request by an editor with a conflict of interest has now been answered.
I would like to request a small set of updates regarding President Zimmer's leadership roles, which I outline below but will not implement due to a conflict of interest. The updates are factual and represented without bias.
The second sentence of the introductory paragraph:
Updated broken link to Fermi Research Alliance Organization Chart
Added affiliation to the Marine Biological Laboratory
The last sentence of the first paragraph of the section titled University of Chicago President:
During Zimmer's presidency, the University of Chicago expanded its presence locally with the launch of the Urban Education Institute[5] and globally with the launch of the Center in Beijing[6] and the Center in Delhi.[7]
RfC: Is it relevant or notable to state whom a college president is dating?
There is a statement in a
student newspaper account, which is based on "campus sources" cited in a blog (
[1]) that Robert Zimmer is dating a particular University of Chicago professor. Is this statement relevant to a biography article? Evidently Zimmer is separated from his wife but whom he is dating doesn't appear relevant to me except possibly to disparage Zimmer and the professor, contrary to
WP:BLP. A particular
IP editor, apparently using several different IP addresses, insists on keeping this statement in this article, despite the objections of two other editors. --
EPadmirateur (
talk)
02:05, 20 March 2010 (UTC)reply
Obviously not notable The subject themselves is hardly worthy of an article and to include who they are currently dating is absurd. I have deleted it.
Martin Hogbin (
talk)
17:56, 20 March 2010 (UTC)reply
However true, it is assumed private, it is not encyclopedic, and because of this merits removal. - Even if this information is true:(1) it is Wikipedia policy to assume this information be kept private until noted otherwise (i.e. personal statement by Zimmer, Zimmer and Ms.? attend a public gathering of some sort as a pair, etc...), and its the conservative assumption required by editors that the unnamed sources are unnamed for the reason that this information was to be kept private (see:
WP:BOLP); (2) Its inclusion contributes nothing of encyclopedic value; (3) Its inclusion causes Wikipedia to be less encyclopedic and more like a tabloid. It clear that whom the president is dating does not merit inclusion. I also believe that though the university has publicly stated that he is dating, including in the article something to the effect of: "He is currently dating", still violates Wikipedia policy and, if nothing else, its philosophy. Because Zimmer is known for being college president, administrator, professor, and distinguished mathematician, anyone searching for information on Zimmer is searching for information in those capacities. It is this information that Wikipedia catalogs as an encyclopedia. Those searching for information on his marital relationship, dating life, preferences in music, food, and film, and all things personal/private should consult extraneous publications that profile Zimmer. Wikipedia does not serve as an aggregate for these sources, and these sources are easily found by searching for Zimmer on the internet. I think it is important to remember that Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, not a newspaper or tabloid, each of which has different criteria for the material it publishes and a specific function. I fully support the removal of Zimmer's private dating life from the article.
Kapooz (
talk)
04:09, 22 March 2010 (UTC)reply
Not notable Neither are his hobbies nor his taste in music. Is this going to be updated constantly, with a table of former girlfriends? I think not.
Ghostofnemo (
talk)
11:21, 22 March 2010 (UTC)reply
Wikipedia is not a place for student gossip and
Kapooz has clearly and convincingly explained why its inclusion is not appropriate. I think this RFC can be closed now
Ajbpearce (
talk)
12:50, 22 March 2010 (UTC)reply
Funny. Kapooz: should we also delete the extramarital affairs listed on Heidegger's page? Or what about Jessica Simpson's page -- there are whole categories concerning her relationships... You "editors" have a lot of "work" to do. ;-)
This
edit request by an editor with a conflict of interest has now been answered.
I have located an updated photo of him and added it to Wikimedia Commons
here. I'd appreciate if someone updated the article with this photo in the infobox as I have a conflict of interest.
Fallentomato (
talk)
22:26, 2 January 2013 (UTC)reply
This
edit request by an editor with a conflict of interest has now been answered.
In collaboration with a few colleagues at the University of Chicago, I have produced
a draft of an expanded article on Robert Zimmer. We have made a good-faith effort to ensure that the article is written in a neutral tone of voice and supported by reliable secondary sources. As I have a conflict of interest, I will not implement any changes directly, but would greatly appreciate the assistance of other editors in reviewing the draft and implementing as much of it as possible. Please don't hesitate to contact me through my user page with questions or concerns.
Fallentomato (
talk)
15:54, 15 February 2013 (UTC)reply
Excellent work. It was a pleasure to read through the expanded article, especially the mathematics section. With the additional WP links, I think most mathematically inclined readers can follow Zimmer's work. --
EPadmirateur (
talk)
21:18, 26 February 2013 (UTC)reply
Update to University gift information
This
edit request by an editor with a conflict of interest has now been answered.
I would like to request an update regarding University's gift information under the University of Chicago Presidency section. The suggested edit is outlined below but will not implement due to a conflict of interest. The updates are factual and represented without bias.
The third paragraph under University of Chicago Presidency:
During Zimmer’s tenure the University of Chicago received three of the largest gifts in its history: a $100 million donation to fund undergraduate scholarships,[8] a $300 million donation to endow the
University of Chicago Booth School of Business,[9] and a $100 million donation to establish The Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts and The Pearson Global Forum at the
Harris School of Public Policy Studies.[10]
Changed the word second to third in the first sentence
Nagle one of the biggest jobs of a university president is fundraising and i think it is OK to attribute them to him. would be better if we had a more independent source for the 1st but the WSJ and the tribune are great sources for those two.... Does that make sense to use the 1st?
Jytdog (
talk)
00:54, 3 February 2016 (UTC)reply
I have implemented the requested edit. Since the article already included two gifts of the same size, I don't see a reason not to include the third, unless there are length concerns.
Fallentomato (
talk)
06:07, 23 February 2016 (UTC)reply
User: Nagle Thank you for the feedback. Following your guidance, I have taken another stab at the sentence with an attempt to keep it factual. Please review this again and let me know your thoughts. Your time and attention on this is highly appreciated.
Over the last decade, the University of Chicago received three of the largest gifts in its history: a $100 million donation to fund undergraduate scholarships,[11] a $300 million donation to endow the
University of Chicago Booth School of Business,[12] and a $100 million donation to establish The Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts and The Pearson Global Forum at the
Harris School of Public Policy Studies.[13]
Being co-author of co-author of co-author of someone is not notable whoever the person is. More so because in this case the person is the academic head of a well respected university and hence automatically passes criteria 6 of
WP:PROF. There is no need to puff up this already well sourced bio with a completely off topic sentence which simply adds nothing of value.
Solomon796812:57, 8 February 2016 (UTC)reply
For the benefit of others, this is in response to
Solomon removing a sentence about Zimmer's Erdős number (3) from the article, and then reverting first myself and then
EPadmirateur when we added it back. Solomon, your rationale has changed over time. First it was since you felt the claim needed more independent sourcing and "shouldn't be sourced to a database". I reverted since it was sourced to the AMS/MathSciNet's website calculator of collaboration distance between mathematicians, which feels independent enough. I think now you are removing it since you feel the the Erdős number is just not important enough (encyclopedic) to include. I'm happy to go either way on that - I don't feel that in Zimmer's subfield the Erdős number is particularly meaningful, but I also respect the argument (by the way articulated in WP's Erdős number article) that it is an interesting enough proxy (I would say heuristic) for overall connectedness and collaboration in mathematics more broadly. Maybe the best on that is to get the perspective of a wider range of editors? (Solomon also mentions above and in the revert edit summaries that an Erdős number of 3 is not needed in terms of establishing notability for the purposes of whether to keep this article, which I would agree with but I don't think is a relevant argument insofar as deciding whether it is an interesting fact to include in WP's article.) Since I am over a decade out of academic mathematics, I now retire from the field on this.
Martinp (
talk)
16:25, 9 February 2016 (UTC)reply
There should be an indication that Prof. Zimmer himself highly regards this connection, which gets reflected in independent sources (like say a newspaper interview) only then this material gets into. How can we say that Prof. Zimmer doesn't get offended (or at least insulted) by this addition?
Solomon796816:57, 9 February 2016 (UTC)reply
Solomon, thanks for your reply. I think you misunderstand the interplay between WP's inclusion criteria (for content within articles, not of articles themselves) and sourcing policy. Material should be included if it is "encyclopedic", i.e. relevant, important, interesting. And it needs to be verifiable, which is where sourcing comes in. But the first criterion is dependent on the collective (i.e. consensus) editorial decision of WP editors. There is no need for the subject of an article to feel a fact is important, and for that to be verifiable, to merit inclusion. So: I'm on the fence whether Z's Erdos number is encyclopedic enough (which is why I'm hoping for input from more editors!). But I think your sourcing concerns are misplaced.
Martinp (
talk)
14:17, 10 February 2016 (UTC)reply
Updates to University of Chicago presidency
This
edit request by an editor with a conflict of interest has now been answered.
I would like to request adding a sectiontwo sentences and a quote that outlines Zimmer's support of free expression—a similar acknowledgment of Zimmer stance on freedom of speech is acknowledged in the
Chicago principles Wikipedia entry. Because this is a large addition to the entry which I believe should be reviewed, I will not implement this addition due to a conflict of interest. The updates are factual and represented without bias, and I welcome your edits.
Add as the thirdfourth paragraph under "University of Chicago presidency," or as a seperate subtopic titled "Academic Free Expression":
Zimmer is a prominent voice for the importance of free expression, open discourse, and intellectual challenge on college and university campuses. He charged the faculty committee that wrote the
Chicago principles on free expression, In 2014 he formed the Committee on Freedom of Expression whose report came to be known as the
Chicago principles — a set of guidelines intended to demonstrate The University of Chicago’s commitment to
freedom of speech.[1] The Chicago Principles are now adopted by more than 65 colleges and universities.[2]
As Zimmer noted in a 2017 an address to the
Chicago Humanities Festivalin 2017, “The confrontation of new and different ideas, understanding the power and limitations of an argument, comfort with questioning others and oneself, recognition of one’s own assumptions as well as those of others, perceiving the power of context, understanding the inevitability of complexity and the need in many cases to leave behind the temptation of simplicity, exposure and grappling with unfamiliar modes of inquiry, synthesizing different perspectives, and being able to articulately advocate a position—all these are skills that students should acquire through their education, that faculty need to impart in delivering that education, and that faculty and students need for developing original research. Thisthe work of faculty and students to confront new and different ideas through education and research "only happens at the highest level in an environment of rigor, questioning, and free and open discourse.”[3]
Zimmer also spoke on the importance of these ideas in the keynote address at the Vienna conference on
academic freedom, University of Vienna's Academic Freedom in the Digital Age conference,[4] which welcomed
Central European University to Vienna after it was forced to leave Hungary.[5]
It is not known what is meant by the phrase "he charged the faculty committee". Please elaborate.
It would be better to paraphrase what the subject spoke about rather than quoting the whole material, per
MOS:QUOTATIONS.
When ready to proceed with the rewritten information, kindly change the {{
request edit}} template's answer parameter to read from |ans=yes to |ans=no. Thank you!
I agree with these points and would add that it would be good to add the reference to the keynote address that you mention
[2]. Otherwise the additions are fine in my view. EPadmirateur (
talk)
15:23, 17 December 2019 (UTC)reply
Thanks for your feedback. Do you think that "Stance on Free Expression" should become its own topic header, rather than placed within the presidency section? StickerMug (
talk) 18 December 2019 —Preceding
undated comment added
21:59, 18 December 2019 (UTC)reply