Return to the Science Journal Spring 2007 table of contents.

Dear friends of the college,

Borrowing a line from an international toy seller, we in higher education, and in research universities in particular, might say “Knowledge ‘R’ Us.” We are in the knowledge business, or the “truth-and-beauty business” as Don Randel, the former president of the University of Chicago said it. The academic enterprise—grounded in the processes of inquiry and reason—has had huge success in the creation and dissemination of knowledge, and this knowledge has had a great impact on society.

The success of the academic enterprise and the impact of the knowledge it generates and disseminates have greatly altered the expectations of society and have given the academy a key role in advancing the quality of life. One example is the extensive area of science devoted to various methods of improving plant varieties used to support life on Earth, which Professor Nina Fedoroff describes in the feature story in this issue of Science Journal. More broadly, as I see it, the collective purpose of research universities today is the creation, preservation, dissemination and application of knowledge to promote the intellectual, social, cultural, economic, and physical well-being of the world—or in other words, to make the world a better place—a fairer, safer, more interesting, more beautiful, healthier, and more prosperous place. That’s an enormous responsibility.

Science and technology are critically important elements in our world, which today is an increasingly interconnected global society. The power of science, as an intellectual endeavor and as a tool to advance our standard of living, is stunning. Also stunning is the globalization that now connects individuals and institutions around the world. This globalization is a result of very impressive enabling technologies in transportation and truly transformational technologies in communication.

Although science and technology have markedly improved the quality of life for very large numbers of people around the world, it is painfully obvious today that science and technology are not sufficient for a peaceful and prosperous global society. We need to draw on many different areas of inquiry and different modes of understanding across the academy and beyond to address enormous challenges around the world. People in all professions—including the sciences—need to have a deeper understanding of the human condition in general, a better understanding of specific cultural and political realities in different parts of the world, and an abundance of wisdom and compassion.

Knowledge is inherently universal, and academic institutions, like other organizations, have increasingly reached across national boundaries as a normal mode of operation. Today, any major research university has a global reach in at least some of its functions. I am convinced that we need to extend that reach by forging strong links among academic institutions. Because of higher education’s important impact both on individual lives and on society as a whole, higher education already has been a collective force for good globally. Our increasingly interconnected world makes research universities ever more important as bastions of rationality, places of opportunity, and engines of progress. By linking together in multiple and substantive ways, we can enhance both the institutions of higher education and the positive effects of higher education worldwide.

One of the ways universities are linking together is by forging agreements involving multiple institutions. The Worldwide Universities Network, in which Penn State plays a major role, is forging ahead and doing good things and is a good example of this kind of collaboration. At the same time, there are many other kinds of agreements being explored among institutions around the globe. It’s not clear that institutions always know just what they want out of some of these agreements or just how to get what they want. In time some of these collaborations will grow to have major impacts.

In the Eberly College of Science, our faculty—and the students on their research teams—have long had numerous fruitful interactions with colleagues at many institutions around the world. In addition, our college has well-established cooperative agreements with nine institutions in other countries that have provided opportunities for our students to study abroad at universities in Europe and one each in Canada, New Zealand, and Singapore. These agreements have enhanced interactions for our faculty and students with these nine institutions. In recent years, we’ve had approximately forty-five undergraduate science students study abroad each year.

Given the global world they will live in, many, many more of our students should be studying abroad, ideally at the best universities in emerging parts of the world. If I could make a change just by decree, I would require all Eberly College of Science undergraduates to spend some time studying abroad, and I would strongly encourage study in Asia or Africa. We can enhance opportunities for the students and faculty of the Eberly College of Science by developing strong partnerships with such institutions. We are working to establish such connections and collaborations so that substantial numbers of our faculty, postdocs, and graduate and undergraduate students will have this valuable experience.

I am very enthusiastic and optimistic about a new agreement that we signed recently with the colleges and schools of Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, and Life Sciences at Peking University in Beijing, China. This agreement promises to facilitate both educational and research collaborations, and to build on some good connections that already exist. One nice feature of this agreement allows faculty from either institution to satisfy their teaching requirements by teaching their courses at the other institution, enabling longer-term visits without requiring sabbatical leaves. Our goal now is to make this agreement a living program, with many students and faculty involved. We also are seeking out other leading universities as partner institutions. Developing robust new global partnerships will be an important means of enhancing opportunities for students and faculty and of continuing to strengthen this remarkable college of ours.

Sincerely,

Daniel J. Larson
Dean, Eberly College of Science