大学如何服务社会Word文档格式.docx

大学如何服务社会Word文档格式.docx

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July18,2006

Shanghai,China

中外大学校长论坛

IamgreatlyhonoredbytheinvitationoftheMinistryofEducationtoparticipateinthisimportantbiannualforuminvolvingthepresidentsofChina'

sleadinguniversitiesandothersfromaroundtheworld.Thisisapropitioustimeforsuchagathering,asthoseofusoutsideChinacontinuetowatchwithadmirationtheenormousinvestmentyourcountryismakingtoimprovethecapacity,quality,andinternationalstandingofyouruniversities.IwanttoexpressmygratitudetoMinisterZhouJifortakingtheinitiativetoorganizethisevent.Iamdelightedtoparticipate.

Ihavebeenaskedtodiscusshowuniversitiesservetheirsociety.Thisisaquestionwellworthasking,atatimeofsuchmassiveinvestmentandgrowthhereinChina.Toanswerthequestion,IwilldrawmainlyontheexperienceofAmericanuniversities,notbecausetheircontributionsareuniqueormoreimportantthanthoseofuniversitieselsewhere.IfocusontheU.S.experiencestrictlybecauseIknowitbest,andIdosoinfullrecognitionthatsomeofthelessonslearnedinmycountrymaynotapplydirectlytoChina.

Soletmegostraighttotheanswer.Ibelievethatuniversitiesservetheirsocietyinmanyways,butIwillfocusonthecontributionthattheymakethroughthreeactivitiesinparticular:

research,education,andinstitutionalcitizenship.

First,byadvancingknowledgeofscience,technology,andmedicineuniversitiescreatethefoundationforeconomicgrowth,materialwell-beingandimprovementsinhumanhealth.

Second,byeducatingstudentstobecapableofflexible,adaptive,andcreativeresponsestochangingconditions,universitiesstrengthentheirsociety'

scapacitytoinnovate.

And,third,byservingasmodelsofinstitutionalcitizenship,universitiesmakeadirectcontributiontosocialbettermentandinspiretheirstudentstorecognizeobligationtoserve.

Letmediscusseachtypeofservicetosocietyinturn.

UniversityResearchasanEngineofEconomicGrowth

Inthemoderneconomy,globalcompetitiveadvantagederivesprimarilyfromanation'

scapacitytoinnovate,tointroduceanddevelopnewproducts,processes,andservices.ThishasclearlybeenthefoundationofAmerica'

seconomicleadershipintheperiodfollowingtheSecondWorldWar.AndoneimportantelementinsustainingthatleadershiphasbeenthestrengthofAmericanscience.

Astheprincipallocusofbasicresearch,America'

suniversitiesplayakeyroleinsustainingournation'

scompetitivenessandeconomicgrowth.Basicresearch,bydefinition,ismotivatedbycuriosityandthequestforknowledge,withoutaclear,practicalobjective.Yetbasicresearchisthesourcefromwhichallcommerciallyorientedappliedresearchanddevelopmentultimatelyflows.Isayultimatelybecauseitoftentakesdecadesbeforethecommercialimplicationsofanimportantscientificdiscoveryarefullyrealized.Thecommercialpotentialofaparticulardiscoveryisoftenunanticipated,andoftenextendstomanyunrelatedindustriesandapplications.Inotherwords,thedevelopmentofinnovativeproductsandservicesthatoccurstodayusuallydependsonadvancesinbasicresearchachievedten,twenty,orfiftyyearsago-mostoftenwithoutanyideaoftheeventualconsequences.

TheemergenceofuniversitiesasAmerica'

sprimarybasicresearchmachinedidnotcomeaboutbyaccident.Rather,itwastheproductofawiseandfarsightednationalsciencepolicy,setforthinanimportant1946reportthatestablishedtheframeworkforanunprecedentedandheavilysubsidizedsysteminsupportofscientificresearchthathaspropelledtheAmericaneconomy.Thesystemresteduponthreeprinciplesthatremainlargelyintacttoday.First,thefederalgovernmentshoulderstheprincipalresponsibilityforfinancingbasicscience.Second,universities-ratherthangovernmentlaboratories,non-teachingresearchinstitutes,orprivateindustry-aretheprimaryinstitutionsinwhichthisgovernment-fundedresearchisundertaken.And,third,althoughthefederalbudgetaryprocessdeterminesthetotalfundingavailableforeachofthevariousfieldsofscience,mostfundsareallocated,notaccordingtocommercialorpoliticalconsiderations,butthroughanintenselycompetitiveprocessofreviewconductedbyindependentscientificexpertswhojudgeproposalsontheirscientificmeritalone.Thissystemoforganizingsciencehasbeenanextraordinarysuccess,scientificallyandeconomically.

Toensurethatuniversity-basedscientificresearchtrulycontributestonationalwell-beingrequiresthatideasmovefromtheorytopractice.FormuchoftheperiodfollowingWorldWarII,mostU.S.universitiesdidnotactivelyseektoparticipateinthetranslationofdiscoveriesintonewproducts,processes,andservices.AnexceptionwastheMassachusettsInstituteofTechnology.Bythemid-1990s,graduatesofMIThadfoundedover4,000companiesnationwide,andwerecontinuingtocreateanadditional150companiesayear.Illustratingtheimpactauniversitycanhaveonitslocaleconomy,morethan1,000ofthosecompaniesarebasedinMassachusetts,accountingforabout25percentofallmanufacturingactivityinthestate.IfengagementwithindustrywasoncetheexceptionamongU.S.universities,itisnowthenorm.Since1980over4,000companieshavebeenformedbasedontechnologylicensedbyauniversity.

EducatingStudentsforInnovationandLeadership

Theknowledgecreatedbytheenterpriseofacademicscienceisbynomeanstheonlyimportantcontributionthatuniversitiesmaketothewelfareoftheirsocieties.Byeducatingstudentsandpreparingthemwellforserviceacrosstherangeofoccupationsandprofessions,universitiescontributeatleastasmuchthroughtheirteachingastheycontributethroughtheirresearch.Theincreaseinthenumberofwell-trainedengineershereinChinahasbeenstaggering,andprovidingstudentswiththerequisiteskillstoobtainandretainproductivejobsisimportant.ButIwanttotalkaboutamoresubtleandprofoundobjectiveofuniversityeducation,onethathasbeenachievedwithdistinctionbytheverybestofAmerica'

suniversitiesandcolleges.Andthatiseducatingstudentstobecreative,flexible,andadaptiveproblem-solvers,capableofinnovationandleadership.

Theworldweliveinisfast-pacedandconstantlychanging.Newscientificdiscoveriesaremadeeveryday,andnewtheoriesdisplaceoldoneswithrelentlessregularity.

ThemethodsofundergraduateeducationusedbyAmerica'

smostselectiveanddistinguisheduniversitiesandliberalartscollegesareparticularlywellsuitedtopreparestudentsforachangingworld.Theseinstitutionsarecommittedtothe"

liberaleducation"

ofundergraduates.Thepremiseunderlyingthephilosophyofliberaleducationisthatstudentswillbebestpreparedforlifeiftheycanassimilatenewinformationandreasonthroughtonewconclusions.Sinceanyparticularbodyofknowledgeisboundtobecomeobsolete,theobjectofliberaleducationisnottoconveyanyparticularcontent,buttodevelopcertainqualitiesofmind:

theabilitytothinkindependently,toregardtheworldwithcuriosityandaskinterestingquestions,tosubjecttheworldtosustainedandrigorousanalysis,andtoarriveatfresh,creativeanswers.Societygainsmostfromapedagogythatseekstoenlargethepowerofstudentstoreason,tothinkcreatively,andtorespondadaptively.

TheUniversityasanInstitutionalCitizen

I'

dlikenexttoexplorewithyouonemorewayinwhichuniversitiescancontributetosociety-bybeinggoodinstitutionalcitizensoftheircommunities.Inthiswayuniversitiescancontributedirectlytolocaleconomicdevelopment,neighborhoodimprovement,publiceducation,healthcare,socialservices,andenvironmentalawareness.Buttheyalsocontributeindirectlybymodelinggoodcitizenshipfortheirstudents,thushelpingtoinculcateinthemasenseofsocialresponsibility.

Sucheffortstomobilizestudentsandfacultyinsupportofworthyciviccauses,aswellaseffortsbytheleadershipofinstitutionstocontributedirectlytothebettermentofthebroadercommunitythatsurroundsus,flownaturallyfromthemissionandpurposesofourinstitutions.Onourcampuseswearedevotedtothedevelopmentoffullhumanpotentialofourstudentsandfaculty.Butmanyofourneighborslacktheopportunitytoflourish.We,withtheprivilegeofeducation,canhelpthosewithoutprivilegegainaccesstogreateropportunity.Thus,universitiescontributethroughtheircitizenship,aswellasthroughtheirresearchandteaching,tothebettermentofsociety.

参考译文：

我十分荣幸能够受中国教育部的邀请来参加这样一个重要的、每两年举办一次的大学校长论坛，这个论坛有来自中外著名大学校长的参加。

当我们这些外国的校长们以欣赏的眼光来关注贵国以巨额的投资来提高你们大学的实力、质量和名望的时候，举办这样一个论坛非常有益。

我被要求谈论是大学如何服务社会的话题。

在中国正进行巨额投入和发展的时候，这是一个值得讨论的话题。

我主要会用美国的经验来回答这个问题，这并是不是说美国大学对社会的贡献比其他地区更加独特或是更加重要。

我之所以会严格地按美国的经验来探讨，是因为我对它最了解。

我也深知，美国的经验可能并不能直接应用于中国。

现在就言归正传吧。

我相信大学可以以不同的方式服务社会，而我主要会谈三种方式，即研究、教学和机构性公民。

首先，大学通过促进科技和医学知识的发展，为促进经济发展、物质富裕和人类健康创造基础。

其次，大学通过教育培养学生应对各种变化的灵活性、适应能力和创新能力，来加强社会的创新能力。

第三，大学以身作则，直接对社会的发展做出贡献，并激励学生认识到他们的服务社会的职责。

接下来，我分别谈谈每种服务社会的方式。

大学研究是经济发展的引擎

现代经济中，全球化的竞争优势主要取决于一个国家的创新、开发新产品和提供服务的能力。

这种能力显然是美国经济在二战后保持领先地位的基础，而维持这种领先地位的一个重要因素是美国科学的实力。

作为基础研究的主要基地，美国大学在保持美国竞争力和经济发展上发挥着关键作用。

基础研究，是一种好奇心和对知识的追求，而并不是一种明确的实践目标。

但是基础研究是所有以商业为导向的应用研究和开发最初的源头，我之所以说“最初”，是因为重要的科学发现的商业价值往往需要人们要花几十年才能认识到。

一种科学发现的商业潜力事先往往无法预知，而且通常会延伸到很多不相关的产业和应用。

换句话说，现在出现的创造性的产品和服务通常依赖于在十年、二十年甚至五十年前基础研究方面的进步。

美国大学作为国家基础科学研究的基地并不是偶然出现的，而是一个具有远见的科学政策的结果。

该政策在1946年的一个报告中被提出，它建立了一个前所未有的高额补助体系的框架来支持科学研究，从而促进美国经济的增长。

这个补助体系依赖于三个原则，这三个原则直到现在仍然没有大的变化。

第一，联邦政府必须对基础研究承担主要的资助责任；

第二，只有大学才是从事由政府资助的基础研究的地方，而不是政府的实验室、非教