‘THE FIRST step in winning the future is encouraging American innovation,’’ President Obama said to a concerned nation in his State of the Union address. Our nation has a remarkable record of rising from the ashes of crisis, and education and research in science and engineering have often led those revivals of prosperity and morale. Of the world’s top 20 research universities, the United States claims 17. As leaders of two, we know our institutions must play a central role in helping America to rebuild.
The nation has suffered profound dislocations before — the Civil War, countless cycles of boom and bust including the Great Depression, two world wars, and the Cold War. The letters and documents of each period make clear that in every case, many felt that America’s time was up, and this bold experiment of a nation could not long endure. Yet in each case contemporary observers underestimated America’s capacity for self-renewal.
To read the full, original article click on this link: Riding the innovation wave - The Boston Globe
Author: Drew Faust and Susan Hockfield
