At a panel moderated by Jeff Selingo, vice president and editor of The Chronicle of Higher Education, on Jan. 12, USC president C. L. Max Nikias joined the heads of three other major urban research universities to address the topic “Can Universities Save Cities?” Nikias pointed to the ways research powerhouses USC, UCLA and Cal Tech have contributed to the growth of our region in the past century.
“Los Angeles wouldn’t be the same without these three universities,” he said. “By educating people across disciplines — cinematographers and scientists, artists and engineers — they’ve provided the manpower and the womanpower that the city needed to grow.” Nikias also pointed to job creation as another key way in which universities can shape their communities, both through development projects, such as the Village at USC, and the startups that are a product of research innovation, such as those initiated through the USC Stevens Institute for Innovation.
The panel also included UCLA chancellor Gene Block, Arizona State University president Michael Crow and Rice University President David Leebron, and was organized by Zócalo Public Square.
Read more at Zócalo Public Square: http://zocalopublicsquare.org/thepublicsquare/2012/01/12/the-ivory-tower-is-no-more/read/the-takeaway/
Watch the video: http://zocalopublicsquare.org/fullVideo.php?event_year=2011&event_id=504&video=&page=1
See photos of the event: https://www.flickr.com/photos/zocalopublicsquare/sets/72157628848063709/with/6688514607/