Watch: National Research Council members chart future of U.S. research universities

For the last half-century, American research universities have been the best in the world and the source of a steady stream of innovations that have contributed to the nation’s economic growth and transformed modern life.

In the last decade, however, this unique partnership between academia and government has been threatened by tough economic times and the perception that the United States has been living beyond its means.

On Jan. 16, a group of stakeholders from academia, federal and state government and the private sector—including Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, Sen. Lamar Alexander, former Senate Majority Leader William Frist, Vanderbilt Chancellor Nicholas S. Zeppos, University of Tennessee Executive Vice President David Millhorn and Chad Holliday, chairman of the board of Bank of America and retired chairman of DuPont—attended a workshop at Vanderbilt to discuss the steps that must be taken to ensure the future of this critical partnership.

Read more at Research News @ Vanderbilt.