The ceremony may also be viewed by streaming
video.
Advancing Knowledge:
A Partner for the Public Good
Inaugural Address
Robert H. Bruininks, President
February 28, 2003
Thank you all for being here, and special thanks to our Governor,
Tim Pawlenty, a University graduate with a longstanding interest in
this institution. I am deeply humbled and honored by this appointment
to serve as the 15th President of the University of Minnesota.
This opportunity to lead one of the nation's best public research
and land grant university systems is a rare privilege and a great
personal honor. As a first generation college graduate, I have a deep
appreciation for the power of higher education to transform lives
and for the contributions it makes to advancing knowledge, human understanding
and our quality of life. This is an especially important personal
honor, since this University and the state of Minnesota have given
me so much over the past 35 years. I owe this incredible opportunity
to family and mentors who nurtured and encouraged my study in higher
education and my career in public service. Most importantly, I owe
this honor to you, the University's Board of Regents, my colleagues,
our students and our friends, and to former President Mark G. Yudof,
whose friendship and confidence in me were instrumental to my work
as the University's executive vice president and provost. And I am
deeply appreciative of your support over these past few months–even
after we all celebrated my pending departure from the University's
central administration this past June!
It is traditional for newly appointed presidents to review the history
of the University of Minnesota early in their tenure. In doing so,
I have discovered some interesting facts. I have learned, for example,
that my brief tenure, marked as it has been by many serious economic
and academic challenges, has led to one of the shortest presidential
"honeymoons" in academic history. I have also learned that
presidents have been austere with their words in times of challenge.
Toward the end of World War I, President Marion Burton assumed the
presidency at the University's 50th anniversary with a four sentence
inaugural address. While these times may suggest a similar commitment
to brevity, I have rarely been accused of following this practice.
I would like to take a moment at this point to honor the life of Governor
Orville Freeman, whose life and contributions to Minnesota are being
celebrated during ceremonies last night and today. Former Governor
Freeman was a University of Minnesota alumnus, not to mention a former
quarterback under legendary Coach Bernie Bierman. After his graduation,
Governor served with great distinction as governor of Minnesota and
as secretary of agriculture of the United States. Unwavering advocates
for education at all levels, Orville and Jane, his wife of 61 years,
have been passionate supporters of the University of Minnesota. We
are grateful for their lifelong dedication. Our thoughts and prayers
are with the Freeman family.
This ceremony marks the end of Founder’s Week, a celebration
of the University’s proud 152-year history of commitment, achievement
and contribution.
In 1851, when this state was still a territory that encompassed parts
of the Dakotas and Nebraska, when the total population was only 6,000,
people of vision decided to found the University in its earliest form
as a preparatory school with 20 students.
In 1867, John S. Pillsbury, the chair of the Board of Regents, endorsed
the idea that the University of Minnesota should be the state's land-grant
institution. After helping to reopen the University in the wake of
a recession and the Civil War, he argued that one institution should
carry the hopes and aspirations of the new state.
And, like public universities across the country in the post-World
War II era, the University of Minnesota ratcheted up its commitment
to the people of Minnesota by creating access for thousands more students.
We were part of a great expansion of public colleges and universities.
By 1950, the University was enrolling 22,000 students in 13 colleges
in a state that counted 3 million residents.
In these postwar years, the University of Minnesota also saw the emergence
of its coordinate campuses. Out of teachers' colleges and agricultural
schools grew new branches of the University we now know in Crookston,
Duluth and Morris. Each cultivated its own academic strengths, and
each continues to serve its local community. In Rochester, too, the
University has been meeting the very particular needs of the community.
Clearly, the people of our coordinate campuses and branches are an
integral part of this enterprise we call the University of Minnesota.
And this University is an integral part of our idea of Minnesota–a
relatively small population of 5 million in a challenging climate
who have built a high quality of life and nurtured an uncompromising
aspiration for innovation and leadership–expectations we have
almost taken for granted.
That idea of Minnesota has always been premised on the importance
of education, and the University has benefited at the same time it
has served this state. Today, through the education of nearly 63,000
students we have enrolled, through the half billion dollars of external
support for path-breaking research our scholars do each year–98 percent
of such research done in this state–and through the many and varied
ways we connect our work to the needs of the community, the University
of Minnesota is even more relevant to the people of the state, the
nation and the world.
Further, we are proud of the faith and confidence that so many alumni
and friends of this University have placed in the University as part
of Campaign Minnesota. To date, we've raised an amazing 1.56 billion
dollars for endowment and ongoing support. They are an important leveraging
of–but not a substitute for–the state's investment in the University
of Minnesota.
With many strengths in place, the University of Minnesota also faces
many challenges. Foremost among these is the matter of financing public
higher education. Although forward-thinking leaders of this state
have long acknowledged higher education's importance to our economic
and civic well being, the portion of public support for higher education
has decreased over the past 20 years; we are now increasingly "state
assisted" rather than "state supported." Since 1980
there has been a 30 percent decline in the University's share of the
state budget and a 40 percent decrease in tax effort for higher education
overall. Soon, revenues from tuition and external grants each may
actually exceed the level of state support. From this matter of finance
flow many other challenges, including maintaining student access in
the face of increasing tuition; supporting important but expensive
education programs in areas such as medicine, dentistry, biology,
language and engineering; and recruiting and maintaining top-flight
faculty in a competitive market. These are challenges this institution
will continue to grapple with, but our response and our directions
must be guided by our values. Vision, Values and
Community
The noted British author John Goldsworthy once remarked that "If
you don't plan the future, you won't have one." Our future will
doubtless be marked by many passages and challenges, but each will
be embraced with the values that have preserved, sustained, and enriched
the University of Minnesota throughout its history.
Excellence:
During the past 152 years, the citizens of this state and this community
have created an outstanding university. They have done so through
nurturing an uncompromising aspiration for innovation and leadership.
We have embraced excellence in every way. In the words of Aristotle:
"We are what we repeatedly do; excellence is not an act, but
a habit." The habit of supporting excellence has characterized
the University of Minnesota since its founding, and it will be essential
as we set priorities and seek institutional change and renewal in
the future.
Diversity: There are few values
more important today than our continued commitment to create an academic
culture that values access and diversity. If education is the key
to success and fulfillment in this society, as I believe it is, we
cannot live up to our democratic ideals without ensuring that talented
people from every income level, every neighborhood, and every kind
of background can find a place at the University. As the population
of this state and this country becomes increasingly diverse, we must
hold onto the gains we've made in opening the doors to the benefits
and community of higher education, and we must push to swing the doors
wider.
But diversity is also about our embrace of the widest range of perspectives,
and a culture that privileges both academic freedom and the common
good. Diversity will continue to be a central goal for this university,
and it will continue to infuse and shape this institution with energy
and the power of broadened perspectives.
Academic
Community: But out of diversity must also spring community.
Much lamented in the current literature on higher education is the
perceived erosion of the academic community. As one former university
president has written, "[Today] many of the most distinguished
research scholars owe their primary allegiance to the invisible academy
of their discipline rather than to their university." I believe
we share together a responsibility to reconstruct a deeper sense of
community—across disciplines, across employee groups, and across
students and teachers. It falls to all of us to continue the work
of President George E. Vincent, who is credited with combining "a
loose federation of disparate colleges into a self-conscious, cooperating
and purposeful institution."
Service:
Crucial, as well, to our sense of community is the deepening of a
culture of service. That will make us more competitive in the shifting
world of higher education, but it will also improve the cohesion of
our university community.
In these times, tough choices lie ahead, but this administration is
committed to fairness, to consultation and respect for individuals'
views. A deepened sense of community must remain one of our primary
commitments as we advocate for the University together, and as we
grapple with the possibility of reduced resources. Retaining the sense
of "We are Minnesota"–all of us–as our athletics director,
Joel Maturi, likes to say, will be essential to achieving the University's
long-term excellence and vitality. A Distinctive
Research Mission
Throughout its history, the University of Minnesota has been committed
to advancing knowledge and partnering to improve the public good.
As we face future opportunities and uncertainties, it is important
to recall this larger purpose.
The University of Minnesota today comprises a flagship research campus;
excellent coordinate campuses, each with its own unique mission and
strong signature and reputation; and a network of statewide research
centers and University of Minnesota Extension Service offices. Through
these resources, the University provides a unique contribution and
a comparative national and international advantage to Minnesota's
system of higher education.
According to one researcher, "The presence of a major research
university is a basic infrastructure component of the Creative Economy–more
important than the canals, railroads, and freeway systems of past
epochs–and a huge potential source of competitive advantage."
In a global knowledge-based economy, where learning and the growth
of intellect are the new raw materials, the University's status as
a top research university system provides Minnesota with a unique
advantage. We must maintain this strength and improve the University's
level of excellence. The challenge will be formidable, especially
as we work–as I believe we should–to make new academic investments
during a time of fiscal austerity. To my mind, our dedication to excellence
requires careful attention to how we prioritize our investments and
reallocate existing resources.
As the executive vice president and provost for the U these past five
years, I was proud to oversee major investments in areas of basic
biological sciences, the health sciences, biotechnology, computer
and information sciences, and many related fields. While my purpose
here today is not to create a detailed blueprint for future academic
investments, I believe we must continue and deepen these pre-existing
investments. They are important to the University's research profile,
and they are important to the state of Minnesota.
It is also critical that the University continue to maintain the strength
of academic fields that claim distinction today. These are areas and
departments often built through decades of leadership and painstaking
investment, but their reputation can be lost very quickly. These fields,
which are spread throughout the University in areas like the social
sciences, the health sciences, the humanities, professional colleges,
engineering and the arts, are largely responsible for upholding the
reputation of the University.
As my friend John Adams, the head of our geography department, has
noted, "The exciting programs [today] seem to lie at the boundaries
and overlaps of traditional disciplines and professional fields."
To give just one example, the study of human development relies more
than ever on the synthesis of the behavioral sciences, biology, chemistry
and neurology. We must ensure that the foundational academic areas
that are the springboard for working across the disciplines continue
to thrive.
A moment ago, I made the case for public investment based upon the
economic return the state realizes from investment in the University.
But the value of higher education transcends dollars and cents. Just
look at the amazing work that has been done for 60 years at our Cedar
Creek Natural History Area. Researchers there are looking at profoundly
important issues related to biodiversity and to people's impact on
the natural environment. These are matters that affect the future
of our entire world. It would be hard to measure its impact on a balance
sheet today, but this kind of work ultimately benefits the public
good.
Thus, I believe that, as a university, we must champion the value
of a balanced academic culture, one that looks at the broad forces–everything
from environmental to political–shaping our society, one that embraces
arts and humanities along with cutting-edge science, one that values
education at the undergraduate, graduate and professional levels.
A University colleague, friend, gifted artist and distinguished professor
of Pediatrics, Robert O. Fisch, reminded me of this important responsibility
in his holiday letter. He wrote that, "Art brings us into another
dimension, where the force of biological rules is replaced by the
realm of dreams, where justice and beauty prevail."
Public Purposes
Throughout its history the University has embraced public values and
pursued public purposes in serving society. Today, with the prospect
of difficult financial times ahead, some may suggest that it is time
to lessen our commitment to our public mission. I believe instead
that we must strive to articulate a renewed commitment to our public
mission, one that reflects the changing conditions of public higher
education and the needs of our society. We have established a serious
conversation on our public responsibility through the Council on Public
Engagement, through the restructuring and redirection of the University
of Minnesota Extension Service, and through implementation of the
Outstanding Community Service Award.
Perhaps the greatest challenge–and the greatest opportunity–is to
strengthen the connection between our research and education missions
and the needs of our society. You can see these deeply embedded connections
in programs like the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree we offer in conjunction
with the Guthrie Theatre, where undergraduates combine rigorous education
in the theatre arts with a solid liberal arts curriculum; and in the
work of Baby Space, a center where the University has brought its
considerable expertise in child development and family support to
the table in order to partner with the needs of the Little Earth community
in the Phillips neighborhood of Minneapolis. And we see it in the
progress we've made in commercializing University technology–that's
one of the primary ways that the discoveries in our labs make their
way to the public. That's as true today, with new magnetic resonance
imaging technology, as it was with the pacemaker, and as it was with
the development of apples, berries, corn, and even flowers that could
thrive in our northern climate.
I believe these significant expressions of our public responsibilities
must be intensified and deepened. This year, with the support of generous
private contributors, I plan to introduce:
- Important public conversations on serious issues facing our
society, the first of which will be the President's Initiative
on Children, Youth and Families. Because the health of higher
education and the nation will rely on the generation who are children
today, we seek to convene and connect our considerable intellectual
resources with the work being done with youth and families in
the community.
- A second area is expanded applications of technology to improve
the connections of research across all areas of the University
to the community–what we call the "portal strategy."
This strategy enables individuals and organizations to customize
access to University resources from any location. I believe we
must make such connections more pervasive, more responsive and
more available.
- During our Sesquicentennial celebration, we held a number of
highly successful interdisciplinary conferences that brought together
many parts of the university with members of the broader community.
I am interested in continuing these conversations through the
inauguration of the President's 21st Century Interdisciplinary
Conference series, a series to connect our research to issues
that are of high public interest and concern.
Learning
There is no greater obligation for us than delivering the best
possible education to our students–at the undergraduate, graduate
and professional levels. One of the more celebrated aphorisms regarding
higher learning was contributed by President James A. Garfield,
who said of his mentor, Williams College professor and President
Mark Hopkins, that, "The ideal college is Mark Hopkins on one
end of a log and a student on the other." While I have some
difficulty envisioning the deforestation of Minnesota to recreate
this learning model, we owe our students undivided attention and
commitment. I would challenge us to make the development, support
and learning of our students a deeper institutional commitment.
Especially over the past decade, under the leadership of former
Presidents Hasselmo and Yudof, the University of Minnesota has made
great strides in improving the undergraduate experience. Some of
those gains include the proliferation of freshman seminars, the
creation of the Academy of Distinguished Teachers, and other faculty
development and award programs. My aspiration is that we continue
and strengthen this commitment to improve learning opportunities
for students, and that we do so with significant learning outcomes
in mind.
As a student of research in learning, I support expanding those
interventions that most improve results and satisfaction for students.
I have a number of priorities in this area, including enhanced advising
and career services, learning communities and honors programs, and
the unique mentorship opportunities our students have through research
experience and service learning with faculty. I believe we must
also consider aligning our curriculum to ensure that it reflects
the best ideas of a liberal education and that it helps, rather
than hinders, student progress. I am convinced that these strategies
will lead to improved graduation rates, and higher and deeper levels
of learning and satisfaction for our students. We must also allow
our successes in undergraduate student experience to "trickle
up" to upper division learners; our graduate and professional
students are nearly 40 percent of the students we serve at the University,
and our attention to the student experience must expand to include
them.
Peter Drucker recently characterized the 21st century as the century
of the learning sciences. The University's strategy to improve the
quality of learning opportunities must be a highly systemic, intentional
commitment. In my humble opinion, we must dedicate more of our attention
to the science of learning and apply it to our central obligation
of education. It is my hope that the confluence of important advances
in cognitive science, measurement of human performance and technology
will make the educational ideal of Mark Hopkins an attainable vision
for all students.
In closing, I want to assure you that the leadership of this great
university is fully committed to achieving excellence in every aspect
of our mission, in fulfilling the promises we have made to the University
community and to the state of Minnesota. In the University's research,
in the caliber of students we are attracting and the quality experience
they get on our campuses, and in the connection of the knowledge
we create to the public good, we cannot afford to slow down. Truly,
to mark time is to lose ground in higher education today. And we
have no intention of doing so.
This University has faced difficult times in the past. We have weathered
them and strengthened this institution through many challenges and
adversities. I think of the sacrifices we have made in times of
war, and the hope we have provided in difficult economic periods.
I think of the breakthroughs in human health that have provided
life to so many, and the innovations in other areas that have made
life better.
As we embark on the next 150 years, this is a time for renewal of
our covenant with the people of Minnesota. In a global economy whose
currency is knowledge, this is not a time to pause or retreat from
the state's historic commitment to education. Our success and our
quality of life in this new century will depend upon continued investment
and public support of education and the University of Minnesota.
Former Governor and University Regent Elmer L. Andersen once said,
"It is difficult to think that an investment in our youth and
our future could be better placed than in our university."
And we–the people of this university, its thousands of alumni,
and its friends–will continue to make that case.
The people of this state have been generous to the University, and
they have seen us deliver on our promises. Through great striving
and progress, the citizens of Minnesota have created one of the
nation's finest public research universities and systems. They can
rely on us to protect this uniquely Minnesota asset, and to be accountable
for continuing to live up to our commitments and to our extraordinary
heritage that reaches back even before the founding of this state.
I believe that, in the end, institutions with strong values endure
and thrive. But organizations must have a vision for the future,
and the people of those organizations–especially one as labor-intensive
as a university–must constantly work together to reinvent
themselves around their values to achieve that vision.
As former U of M President Lotus Coffman once said: the University
"breathes the spirit of the social order … is constantly
engaged in an attempt to understand the meaning of the age [and
is] dominated by a philosophy of helpfulness."
Let us hold on to that helpfulness as we look to the future–as
we sharpen our research mission, as we look to improve our students'
learning outcomes, and as we seek to better align our partnership
with the community to improve society with the University's research
and education programs. This is an institution that has endured
and thrived, and one that has benefited from the state’s largesse
at the same time that it has underpinned its economic progress and
quality of life. Let us continue to advance knowledge. Let us continue
to partner for the public good.
God bless you and God bless the University of Minnesota.
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Last modified on January 23, 2003