How to be the best universities.docx

How to be the best universities.docx

《How to be the best universities.docx》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《How to be the best universities.docx（5页珍藏版）》请在冰豆网上搜索。

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