Tilting at Windmills Policy Battles Won, Lost, Or Long Since Forgotten
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Tilting at Windmills Policy Battles Won, Lost, or Long Since Forgotten James J. Duderstadt The University of Michigan @ 2015 The Millennium Project, The University of Michigan All rights reserved. The Millennium Project The University of Michigan 2001 Duderstadt Center 2281 Bonisteel Boulevard Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2094 http://milproj.dc.umich.edu Dedication to all those frustrated policy wonks... i Preface God, grant me the serenity nonprofit organizations (e.g., the Brookings Institution, to accept things I cannot change, higher education groups such as AAU and APLU, and the courage to change the things I can, numerous state-based organizations). and the wisdom to know the difference. Indeed, looking back now, I realize that roughly 80% Reinhold Neibuhr (40 years) of my career has been involved as much in leading a broad array of policy studies as in the more usual activities of the academy (e.g., teaching, research, People usually think of careers as a university pro- and academic leadership). fessor as a continuous progression from an energetic Hence it seemed an interesting exercise to attempt young scholar with lots of original ideas evolving over to look back over these many projects and studies to the years of teaching and writing into an obsolete and assess their impact–what was recommended, what occasionally senile old curmudgeon teaching the same gained traction, and what sank beneath the waves with- course from the same set of yellowed notes. Yet there out making a ripple–i.e., to assess from this set of case is as much evolution in the nature of these careers as studies of policy assignments what worked and what in any other profession as faculty members frequently failed. Put another way, were these policy efforts sim- take on additional roles of administration, consultation, ply a series of quixotic quests, tilting at one windmill af- and service. ter another, or did they actually accomplish something. In my own case, this evolution occurred on an un- Although I recognized that this could be a rather frus- usually rapid pace, since my traditional faculty role as trating and disappointing exercise, perhaps it would at a teacher and scholar lasted only a decade before I was least be amusing if not educational. thrust into the leadership role of dean of an engineer- ing college with 5,000 students and 300 faculty mem- The University of Michigan bers. Although continuing into other administrative Ann Arbor, Michigan roles as provost and then president of the University 2015 of Michigan, I was also quickly drawn into significant public policy roles, with the appointment by President Reagan to the National Science Board in 1984 (which I was later to chair) and election to the National Acad- emy of Engineering in 1987, following by both service and chairing many of its boards and studies through the National Research Council. The visibility of these roles rapidly cascaded into other policy activities with various federal agencies (e.g., National Science Foun- dation, Department of Energy, Department of Educa- tion, NASA, the National Intelligence Community) and ii Table of Contents 2004 NRC IT Council 2004 NSF IT Tutorial Preface 2012 NSF Future of Discovery, Learning, and In- novation Ch 1 Introduction Ch 9 Energy Research Personal Experiences 2004 DOE SEAB Study on Energy Research Organization of Report 2010 Brookings National Energy Research Net- JJD Major Policy Activities work Ch 2 Environmental Scan 2006 UM Energy Research Institute Age of Knowledge Ch 10 Nuclear Energy Globalization 1998-2004 DOE Nuclear Energy Advisory Com- Demographics mittee Technological Change 2009 DOE Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Innovation LWRs Tomorrow’s Possibilities 1979 Nuclear Power (New York: Marcel Dekker, Ch 3 National Science Policy 1979) 1992 NSB Commission on NSB-NSF Futures Ch 11 Global Sustainability 1995 Press Report 2010 NSF Roundtable on Global Climate Change 2000 COSEPUP FS&T Reports 2012 Global Sustainability and the Role of Univer- 1990s-2000s NSF Strategic Planning sities Glion VIII 2014 AAA&S Science Policy Study Ch 12 Spellings Commission Ch 4 Research Universities 2004 DoEd National Commission on Future of U.S. 1998 A University for the 21st Century (Ann Arbor, Higher Education MI: UM Press, 2000) (Spellings Commission) 2012 National Academies Commission on Ameri- 2004 DoEd Quality Subcommittee of Spellings can Research University Commission 2013-2014 Phase II and Phase III of NA Research 2008 Raising the Bar: Spellings Commission After- University Project math Ch 5 Engineering Profession Ch 13 Public Universities 1982 Principles of Engineering (New York,: John 2002 The Future of the Public University in Wiley and Sons, 1982) America: Beyond the Crossroads 2005 Engineering Flexner Report (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press) Ch 6 Engineering Research 2012 Morrill Conference: The Future of Public 2003 NAE Engineering Research study Research Universities 2003 Discovery Innovation Institutes 2005 Beyond the Crossroads Ch 7 Innovation Hubs Ch 14 Leadership and Governance 2005 Discovery Innovation Institutes 2008 AGB University Governance and Leadership 2008 Brookings Energy Innovation Hubs Commission 2010 Brookings Midwest Energy Hub Network??? 2004 Spellings Commission: Restructuring Univer- Ch 8 Cyberinfrastructure sity Governance 2002 Higher Education Faces the Digital Age: Ch 15 Financing Higher Education Technology Issues and Strategies for Myths and Realities American Colleges and Universities (Praeger Pub- A Case Study: University of Michigan lisher, Westport, CT, 2002) A National Agenda 2002 NRC Information Technology and Research Ch 16 Diversity, Inclusion, and Public Purpose Universities 1990: The Michigan Mandate: A Strategic Linking iii of Social Diversity and Academic Excellence 1992: The Michigan Agenda for Women 2000 and Beyond Economic Diversity Ch 17 Intercollegiate Athletics 2000: Intercollegiate Athletics and the American University: A University President’s Perspective (Ann Arbor, MI: UM Press, 2000) 2014: Headed for the Cliff: The Future of Intercol- legiate Athletics Ch 18 Economic Development Roadmaps 2008 Milproj, The Michigan Roadmap, Redux 2009 Time to Get it Right: A Strategy for Kansas City 2010 A Master Plan for Higher Education in the Midwest Ch 19 Global Studies 1998-2015 Glion Colloquium 2008 The Globalization of Higher Education, VI Glion 2012 Preparing Universities for an Era of Change, IX Glion Ch 20 UM Change Agents Millennium Project Duderstadt Center Ch 21 Science, Technology, and Public Policy 2004 STPP Program 2010 NRC PGA Ch 22 UM Strategic Planning 1990s Strategic Planning 2000 and Beyond Ch 23 Game Changers and Paradigm Shifts 2014 Milproj, The Third Century 2015 Milproj, Beyond the Fringe Ch 24 The Third Century 2014 Milproj, The Third Century 1 Chapter 1 Introduction Looking back over a fifty-year career as a faculty tion in 1985 as a member of the National Academy of member at the University of Michigan, it becomes ap- Engineering, soon led to engagement with a large num- parent that while this has been anchored at the same ber of policy assignments with organizations such as institution for almost half-a-century, my activities have the National Research Council, the NRC Committee on changed considerably every few years and broadened Science, Engineering, and Public Policy, the Executive substantially to address issues at the national and Committee and Governing Board of the National Acad- global level during this career. Of course during the emies, as well as assignments with federal agencies early years from 1964 to 1980, these were focused on such as the National Science Foundation, the National the typical faculty activities of teaching and research Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Depart- in nuclear science and engineering, including brief ments of Energy, Education, and Commerce, and the stints at two major national laboratories, the Los Ala- National Intelligence Community. (A more complete mos National Laboratory and the Lawrence Livermore list of these policy activities is provided as an appendix National Laboratory. Most of my teaching and research to this chapter.) were involved theoretical studies of nuclear fission re- My experience as a scientist, engineer, and univer- actors and controlled thermonuclear fusion, with side sity academic leader at the University of Michigan led ventures into statistical physics and high powered la- to chairing a broader range of policy activities, from sers. In addition to the usual production of publications higher education to economic development to global (100) and PhD students (22 during this period), during affairs to national security. Indeed, looking back now, the later years of the 1990s my activities broadened to I realize that roughly 80% (40 years) of my career has include textbooks in nuclear science and engineering been involved as much in leading a broad array of poli- (five major textbooks) and television productions (in- cy studies as in the more usual activities of the academy cluding a 10 course sequence in nuclear engineering (e.g., teaching, research, and leadership). similar to today’s MOOCs). Hence it seemed an interesting exercise to attempt However my activities shifted dramatically in the to look back over these many projects and studies to 1980s with appointments first as Dean of Engineering assess their impact–what was recommended, what in 1981, then as Provost of the University in 1986, and gained traction, and what sank beneath the waves with- finally as the University’s President in 1988, a post I out making a ripple–i.e., to assess from this set of case held until 1996. Beyond the usual leadership respon- studies of policy assignments what worked and what sibilities of academic administration, the University of failed. Put another way, were these policy efforts sim- Michigan’s prominence as one of the world’s leading ply a series of quixotic quests, tilting at one windmill af- research universities soon enabled me to assume an in- ter another, or did they actually accomplish something, creasing level of activity in national science policy.