Challenge and Response

Abstract This commentary article contends that the American research university is one of the great achievements of the 20th century, and that U.S. research universities have contributed powerfully to the nation's prosperity, security and intellectual vitality. The author asserts that research universities and industry possess different but complementary strengths and should work in close partnership so that the nation and the world can enjoy the greatest possible benefit. The author concludes with a plea to the members of the Society of Research Administrators to continue to make the public case for a robust and well-supported national research program. The article is based on the author's speech to the Society of Research Administrators on the occasion of his receipt of the 1999 Distinguished Contribution to Research Administration Award, delivered in Denver at the SRA Annual Conference, Oct. 18, 1999. Introduction I sometimes get the feeling that research administration, at least at the level I unaccountably find myself, is nine-tenths smoke and mirrors. Spectacular stuff happens, and even our most beady-eyed critics believe that we research administrators have had something to do with it. This in no way minimizes the great service to America provided by the member institutions and individual members of the Society of Research Administrators (SRA). You are stewards of one of the scarcest resources in education: research dollars (private, state and federal). You find ways to decrease the cost of doing business, stretch the research dollar and encourage the research process, without driving up research administrative overhead. The Office of Naval Research (ONR) has collaborated with universities in the conduct of research and related business affairs for longer that most of you have been alive. We in ONR cherish this relationship, and the success we enjoy is in large part due to people like you. You are active, effective, persistent and even, at times, aggressive spokespeople. You serve as lobbyists, ambassadors, marketers, representatives, emissaries and (too often) lonely advocates for investment in research. I can empathize since I do that too, and it is hard work. It is relentless, and it does not always pay off, but it is critical to your institutions' mission and mine. If you will allow a patriotic moment, you contribute here-as you have for decades-to the economic and security strength of the most prosperous nation on earth. For that too, I salute you. The Ascendance of the American Research University We have reached the end of a decade, a century and a millennium, and a jubilee year is upon us. It is therefore appropriate to reflect on the richness of life and the progress we have made as a people. Indulge me as I list some of the accomplishments of the past few years: * The enemy of our lifetime, the U.S.S.R., is gone, replaced by a more democratic, market-based Russia. * We have, one-by-one, overcome many diseases, thereby increasing the life span. * New wireless networks provide access to new sources of information, bringing the prospect of a first-rate education to people anywhere in the world. * There is enough food for everyone. We face challenges of politics, greed and distribution, but there is enough protein. As we approach the end of the millennium, we are certain to make lists of the greatest hits, the greatest people, the greatest athletic achievements of the 20th century, and so on. I think we run the risk of forgetting an important achievement that I would put very near the top of any meaningful list: the American research university. By world standards, the American research university is still in its youth, making its achievements even more remarkable. The American research university is largely responsible for creating the intellectual capital that has made our country strong and economically competitive. …