Dean Describes Role of Science in U.S. Economic Competitiveness

17 March 2006—The nation's economic competitiveness, which relies on its continuing world leadership in science and technology, is the focus of growing bipartisan concern in the federal government and among influential business and scientific organizations, Dean Daniel Larson told the Board of Trustees today (March 17th) in Pittsburgh. Recent reports highlight the importance of science education and research in supporting the nation's competitiveness and quality of life during the 21st century. Larson described the enthusiasm within the Penn State Eberly College of Science for contributing to the nation's competitiveness in science and technology through the existing and planned programs of the college and the achievements of its faculty and students.

"Unprecedented developments in recent years have changed the playing field for economic competitiveness," Larson said. "As a result, the locations where significant scientific and technological innovation can occur are changing and our nation needs to respond in order to maintain our position of scientific leadership."

Among the calls to action mentioned by Larson are recent reports by the National Academies and the Institute of Medicine, the Council on Competitiveness, the Business Roundtable, and an influential new book, titled "The World is Flat: A Brief History of the 21st Century," by Thomas Friedman, a foreign-affairs columnist for the New York Times and a three-time winner of the Pulitzer prize.

In describing the current achievements of the Eberly College of Science, Larson characterized the college as "a vibrant scientific and educational community, open and welcoming, creative and adaptable, renowned for excellence in research and teaching and for improving the world through our students, our discoveries and our inventions."

The outstanding quality of the programs and students in this scientific community make Penn State one of the top U.S. universities whose bachelor-degree recipients who go on to earn doctoral degrees: the University ranks sixth in physical and mathematical sciences and is tied for sixth in biological sciences. To illustrate the level of excellence of Penn State's science undergraduates, Larson listed some of the prestigious awards that students have won recently, including the Goldwater Scholarship, the Gates Cambridge Scholarship, the Marshal Scholarship, and the National Co-op Student of the Year Award. Larson also noted that the college has an active cooperative-education program, which is unusual for a college of basic sciences.

One-eighth of all entering students at the University Park campus matriculate in the Eberly College of Science. The college faculty, which includes increasingly more women and minorities in tenure-track positions, teaches 210,000 student credit hours each year in general-education courses, classes that provide the mathematics and science training required for majors in other colleges, and courses for science majors. Among the award-winning college faculty are 13 active Evan Pugh Professors, 12 National Academy of Science members, 5 Fellows of the British Royal Society, 10 American Academy of Arts and Sciences members, 1 Institute of Medicine member, 1 winner of the National Medal of Science, plus 3 recent winners of the Sloan Foundation Fellowship and 25 recent winners of other awards for outstanding young faculty members.

A powerful learning experience for undergraduate students is participation in the many innovative research projects directed by the college faculty. In terms of total scientific research expenditures, Penn State ranks 10th among all U.S. universities in chemistry, 10th in physics, 12th in astronomy and 14th in mathematics. Research expenditures in the college have increased from $41 million to more than $86 million over the past 8 years.

Among the research achievements that Larson highlighted are NASA's Swift Satellite--a gamma-ray-burst observatory whose operation Penn State controls and for which Penn State is NASA's prime university partner. One measure of the quality of the faculty is the number of their publications that are cited in other scientific papers--a measure that has increased by 150 percent during the past decade. At present, Penn State has the 5th highest impact on space science in United States and one Penn State astronomer is the 3rd-most-cited space scientist in the world.

Larson also highlighted the faculty's interdisciplinary collaborations and described goals for increased biomedical research, including further engagement with the College of Medicine, the College of Agricultural Sciences, and other colleges. Among current biomedical research programs are some in neuroscience that focus on Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and depression and anxiety in normal aging. Other biomedical research programs include juvenile-onset diabetes, Wolcott-Rallison Syndrome, and osteoporosis. In addition, the college has one of the top groups in the world doing research on the dynamics of infectious diseases.

Larson also described initiatives within the college to support science education at other campuses, service programs designed to reach out to the public in various ways, and a variety of additional planned initiatives. He outlined programs for improved recruitment and retention of science students; expanded engagement in K-12 science education; increased opportunities for international and entrepreneurial education; initiatives that foster creativity unbounded by disciplinary or college boundaries; improved training of organizational, entrepreneurial, and intellectual leaders; and increased support of scientific research. He explained that the current and planned programs of the college support the goals recommended recently by the reports of influential national organizations.

In summary, Larson described the conclusion of a recent report by the Eberly College of Science Vision Committee. He said, "In a global environment that is challenging America’s ability to attract and retain the most talented students, teachers, and researchers, training leaders and fostering creativity in the sciences is the task confronting the Eberly College of Science."

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