Leading Experts Tackle Role of Public Research Universities at Critical Time in Higher Education
WHAT: Rutgers University’s inaugural presidential symposium during the year of its 250th Anniversary, “The Future of the Research University,” to examine critical issues in higher education by looking to the past and ahead to the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century.
WHO: Rebecca Blank, chancellor, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and former acting U.S. secretary of commerce, will discuss “The Role of Public Universities in the 21st Century,” with a focus on financial, political, philosophical and other pressures all higher learning institutions face.
William Bowen, former president of Princeton University and president emeritus, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, will address “Issues Facing Major Research Universities at a Time of Stress and Opportunity.”
Robert Barchi, president of Rutgers, will host and provide welcoming remarks.
A panel of distinguished Rutgers faculty will address issues raised in each talk and the audience will participate in a Q&A.
WHEN: 1 – 5 p.m. Thursday, April 7, 2016
WHERE: Rutgers Business School, Livingston Campus, Piscataway, Room 1095.
Background: This is the first of three presidential symposia during Rutgers’ 250th Anniversary Year. They are intended to explore in depth the various facets of what it means to be a research university today with speakers who represent some of the finest institutions and freshest thinking in academia. Since the 19th century, American research universities have been a major source of knowledge and innovation – producing leaders in all sectors of academia, business, industry and government; driving the global economy; and helping to provide a standard of living which we take for granted. But if higher education is to serve our nation and citizens in an ever more competitive global marketplace, the university must transform itself to remain creative, vital and an engine of economic growth.
For media inquiries, contact Jeff Tolvin at 973-972-4501(O), 908-229-3475 (C), or jeff.tolvin@rutgers.edu