How to be the best universities.docx
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Howtobethebestuniversities
Howtobethebestuniversities
哈佛大学校长LawrenceH.Summers在北京大学的演讲
PresidentMin,PresidentXu,thankyouforallthosekindwords.ThankyouforthehospitalityyouhaveshownmeandforthehospitalityyouhaveshownthevisitingdelegationfromHarvardUniversity.
IbelievewehavegatheredthesedaysinBeijingthelargestdelegationoffacultyfromHarvardUniversitythathasevercometoChina.Thatis,Ibelieve,areflectionoftheimportanceofChinatotheworldofthe21sCentury.Itisareflectionofourcommonendeavor-thepursuitofknowledgeandtheteachingstudents.
Iamveryexcitedtobehereatoneofchina’sgreatestuniversities,oneoftheworld’sgreatuniversities,andamespeciallygladtohavethechancetotalktosomanyofyourstudentsabouttheworldtheyaregoingtoinherit.
Youknow,ifthinkyouaboutwhatwedoinuniversities,ifyouthinkaboutthephenomenonofglobalization,Ibelievethatourspecialroletodayandthephenomenonofglobalizationaremanifestationsofayetdeepertransformationthatisgoingonaspectofhumanactivitythaniteverhasbeenbefore.
Andwhatisatthecenterofthistransformation?
ChinaisatitscenterwiththedramatictransformationthatChinahasseenoverthelasttwodecades.Andknowledgeandthespreadanddisseminationofknowledgeareatitscenteraswell.NocountryinEurope,nocountryinNorthAmerica,hasevergrownnearlyasrapidlyinadecadeasChinahasgrowninthepastdecadeandinthedecadebefore.Andthatisareflectionoftheenormousopportunitiesthatmoderntechnologyprovidesforconvergence-itisareflectionofknowledgeandtheincreasingspreadofknowledge.
Thinkaboutsomethingelse.Wealiveinoneperiodinhumanhistorywhensciencehasthepotentialtounderstanddiseaseprocesses-whensciencehasthepotentialduringtheperiodinwhichthepeopleinthisroomwillbealive-tounderstandatthelevelofindividualmoleculeswhatitisthatgoeswrongandcauseshumantosufferandtodie.Andwewillbeabletofindthatunderstandinginwaysthatcanbemadeoperationaltobringaboutremedies.
Wehavethepotentialtoseemoreprogressagainstdiseaseintheperiodinwhichwearealivethaninanyotherperiodinhumanhistory.Andwhatisthatabout?
Thatisaboutthegrowthofknowledgeaswell.
Weknowsomethingstodayaboutthegrowthofknowledgeofresearchandtheprogressfindingapplicationthatarenotobviousatall.Weknowabouttheroleofknowledge:
youcannevertellwherethemostusefulknowledgeisgoingtocomefrom.Youcannotpredictwhereitisgoingtocomefrom-youcannotdirectprogramstofindthemostusefulformsofknowledge.
Onecouldgoonandonfromalmosteveryfieldofknowledgeinauniversity.ButIthinktheonekindofknowledgethatwillalwayseludeourgraspistheabilitytopredictwhichtypesofresearch,whichtypesofpureinquiry,willmakethegreatestcontributionstothefutureofoursociety.Butequally,fiwewillnotbeabletopredictwhichtypesofknowledgewillmakethegreatestcontributiontooursociety,wecanconfidentlypredictthatnewknowledge,newideas,newapproaches,andclearthinkingwillbecentraltoourfuture.
Increasingly,thisisevidentinnotjustuniversities,butinthewaysinwhichbusinessorganizationsthatintenselypracticalandmotivatedbyprofit,organizethemselvesinoursociety.IhadoccasiontospeakwithaprofessorofastrophysicsatoneofAmerica’sleadinguniversitiesnotlongago.HeaskedmewhoIthoughtwastheirlargestemployerofPh.D.graduate.IrespondedbysayingIthoughtpossiblyitmightbeHarvard,orpossiblyitmightbesomeobservatory.TheanswerhegavemewasthatitwasMorganStanley,oneofthelargestinvestmentbanksintheUnitedStates.Theywerehiringastrophysicistsbecausetheywerereachingoutandlookingtogetthosewiththegreatestquantitativeaptitude,thegreatestcapacitytodoquantitativeresearch,becauseofthecontributionthatmadetotheirroleinthefinancialmarkets.
Indeedifonelooksatthebestbusinessorganizations,theyareincreasinglylookingforthepeoplethatarethemostcreative,whoarebestschooled,whoaremostintellectuallyable.Indeedifyoulookatthebestorganizationsaroundtheworld,theyareincreasinglytakingonsomeoftheattributesofthebestuniversities
Whatisitthatismostdistinctiveaboutthebestuniversities?
Onethingisthis:
ideasarejudgedbythequalitytheypossess,andnotbythestatusoftheirpresenter.ProfessorsatHarvardwanttheirstudentstodowhatisnew.Whenstudentsdoresearchtestingahypothesisoratheoryofoneoftheirprofessors,theprofessorwouldpreferitiftheresearchcameouttoconfirmtheprofessor’shypothesis,thaniftheresearchcameouttodenythathypothesis.Professorsarehuman.
Buttheprofessorswouldbeabsolutelyinsistentthatthatresearchwasimportanttodo,topointout,andtopublish,nomatterwhattheresultswere.WehaveprofessorsatHarvardthatareverycommittedtoparticularbeliefsaboutthenatureofevolution,aboutenvironmentalissues,abouteconomicissues.Buteveryoneofthemwouldinsistthatitwastheobligationoftheuniversitytohirethebestandthebestandmostpromisingscholarstojointheirdepartment,regardlessofwhethertheyagreedorwhethertheydisagreedwiththeirresearch.
Thisemphasisonjudgingideasbytheirqualityisfindingitswaythroughtheworld.Peopleinbusinessspeakofthedeathofhierarchy.Theyspeakoftherisingimportanceofteamwork.Theyspeakoftheimportanceofemphasizingcreativity.AnddareIsaythisapproachofjudgingideasbytheirqualityratherthantheirsourcehasbeensomethingveryimportanttotheenormousprogressChinesesocietyhasmadeoverthelast20years.
Aseconddeepcommitmentofuniversitiesthatisalsobeingemulatedthroughoutthebroaderworldisacommitmenttoadiversityofperspectiveandawillingnesstoaindividualsfromanybackgroundifitcontributestoourexcellence.ThishasbeenacontinuingquestforusatHarvardUniversity.Acenturyago,ouruniversitywasaplacewheregentlemenfromrichfamiliestaughtotheryoungergentlemenfromrichfamiliesinNewEngland.ItwasnotopentostudentswhowereborninlargepartsoftheUnitedStates.Itwasopenonlytopeopleofcertainracesandfaithsandtherewerelimitsplacedonspecificgroupsbecausetheywouldotherwisebetoonumerousandmakepeopleuncomfortable.
Today,Harvardisauniversitythatisfarmoreopenandinclusivetomenandtowomen,topersonsofallfaiths,topersonsofallraces,topersonsfromeverystateinourcountry,topersonsfromeverycountryintheworld.Westillhavealongwaytogoifwearegoingtobemoreinclusiveandopen,ifwearegoingtogetthebenefitsthatdiverseperspectivesprovide.Butevenmore,ifwearegoingtobringthebestlearnersandteacherstoourcampus,wemustcastournetforexcellenceaswidelyaswepossiblycan.
Asuniversitieshaveevolved,sohavethebestandmostsophisticatedbusinessorganizations,andsotoohavethegovernmentsofthemostdevelopedcountries.Theyhaveevolvedawayfromchoosingnarrowelitebasedonpersonalconnectiontowardsfindingthepeoplewhoaremostableandcanmakethegreatestcontribution.TheUnitedStateshasalongwaytogoheretoolbutwearemakingprogress,andwearemakingprogressinnosmallpartbasedonamodelthathascomefromuniversities.
Thereisathirddifferencethatisveryreal,veryspecialaboutuniversities,anditissomethingthatisincreasinglyimportantinallkindsoforganizations.Andthatisanemphasisontakingthelongview.ThisisaplacewhereperhapsuniversitiesandChinahavesomethingincommon.
Whenwethinkaboutaworkofscholarship,wearenotjustseekingtojudgewhatitsimpactwillbetomorrow,whatitsimpactwillbenextweek,nextmonth,ornextyear.Whenwethinkaboutaworkofscholarship,weareseekingtounderstanditscontributionstoknowledgeoverthelongestrunandweholdhighestthoseideasthat,intheend,willmakethebiggestdifference.
Andincreasingly,thebestbusinessorganizations,thebestinstitutionsinanysociety,arethosewhonotonlytrytomoverapidlytotakeadvantageofanyopportunity,butalsopayattentiontotheverylongrun-thosewhoalsoinvestintheideasthataregoingtomakethebiggestdifferencesnottomorrow,butadecadeandacenturyfromnow.
Thisisthefaithonwhichuniversitiesaresupremelybased.ItisafaiththathaspaidoffintheUnitedStates,andIbelieveithaspaidoffforallwhohavesoughttofollowit.Some75percentofmajorpatentsgrantedintheUnitedStatesdrawtheirinspirationinimportantrespectsfromuniversities-universitieswhodon’ttrytoprofit,whodon’tnaturallyfocusonthebottomline.Andyet,universitieshavebeenassuccessfulasanyexportactivitythattheUnitedStatespossesses.
WhatisitthathasenabledAmericanuniversitiestobesuccessful,andwhatisthebestthinkingthatwehaverightnowabouthowuniversitiescanexcel?
I’dliketoreflectonafewaspectsofthat,andthenI’dliketoreflectonwhatseemtometobesomeofthechallengesforuniversitiesintheyearsahead.
First,aseparationfrompoliticsandexternalcontrol.AtHarvardUniversity,thegovernorofMassachusettsorthepresidentoftheUnitedStatescanhaveabsolutelynoswayoverwhoisappointedasaprofessorofeconomics,orprofessorofengineering,orprofessorofmedicine.Theycannotappointtheirfriends,andtheycannotappointpeoplewhowillsupporttheircauses.
Letmetellyousomethingelsethatisimportant-Ithinki