Arizona State University President Michael Crow and Holden Thorp, editor-in-chief of the journal Science, discussed the need for better communication between the research community and the public during a fireside chat on Tuesday at ASU’s Tempe campus. The event brought together several dozen students and faculty members who are fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
Thorp said that over time, universities have become complacent about federal funding for research. He noted that higher education institutions took it for granted that the public would always value college degrees and scientific research. “I think the chaos has the potential to give us something new and better,” Thorp said. “It is completely understandable that it got this way because all the incentives were, ‘Do more research, publish more papers, ring the cash register for the institutions.’ But we took it for granted that the American people would always believe that it was a good idea to get a college degree and that science was generally a force for good. And as that eroded, we were so busy peddling our bicycles that we didn’t notice this whole thing falling apart.”
The discussion referenced Vannevar Bush’s 1945 report, “Science: The Endless Frontier,” which argued for strong federal support of university-based scientific research. Thorp stated, “Bush makes this very, very shrewd political argument that America’s strength economically, and in terms of what it stands for, is enabled by a strong academic scientific enterprise. And the best way to do it is by funding professors and universities. And that system has worked extremely well for 80 years. And now it’s definitely in danger.”
Crow reflected on how priorities shifted from national success to focusing mainly on science itself: “Bush says, ‘Give me this license to build this republic of science where the scientists get to decide what we do. And I’ll give you economic security. I’ll give you health and well-being. I’ll give you national defense,’” Crow said. “We don’t have any of those. We have the most expensive health care system. We haven’t had sustained 4%-plus economic growth since the 1960s. So if I was out in the general public, I’d be concerned about where we’re going.”
Crow emphasized democratic engagement in current debates over higher education funding: “We’re not under an existential threat,” he said. “Welcome to a place where the people speak with loud voices, sometimes angry. They speak when they’re frustrated. They speak when they’re hurt. They speak when they’re let down. And we have hurt, frustrated and let-down people.”
Thorp added: “We’re not suffering because we don’t know what to do when we have pipettes in our hands. We’re suffering because we haven’t figured out how to invite the public into what we’re doing.” He suggested universities should reexamine their approach: “It’s a great time to ask ourselves if we were going start over, how would we do it? The first thing is, the students would come first,” he said.“And the public would have to be invited into it in a way that we haven’t done in the past.”
The AAAS will hold its annual meeting at Phoenix Convention Center in February with thousands expected to attend at ASU’s invitation; this year’s theme is “science at scale.” During Tuesday’s talk facilitated by Lara Ferry, Knowledge Enterprise vice president of research at ASU, she described ongoing collaborations between AAAS and ASU—including a joint prize set to be awarded at February’s gathering—and highlighted opportunities for free AAAS memberships among ASU students and staff.
“This facilitates involvement in science in many different ways — in the laboratory, remote field sites, libraries, museums, policy forums, media — everywhere science is conducted and everywhere science is needed,” Ferry said.
Arizona State University continues efforts toward innovation across various fields as recognized nationally—recently named number one in innovation by U.S News & World Report for eight consecutive years (https://news.asu.edu/20220911-university-news-asu-no-1-innovation-us-news-world-report-eighth-year?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=asu&utm_campaign=ASURankings&utm_term=USNWR). Partnerships such as one with Argos Vision on smart traffic camera technology also highlight its role beyond campus (https://www.phoenix.gov/newsroom/street-transportation/2420).
