Universtiy of Oregon President Michael Gottfredson, along with 164 other university presidents and chancellors signed, an open letter to President Obama and Congress on July 31 in an attempt to persuade leaders in Washington to close what they referred to as the “innovation deficit.”
Gottfredson and his colleagues defined the innovation deficit in the letter as “the widening gap between needed and actual investments” in research and higher education.
The letter is timely in that Congress will face several decisions regarding the federal budget in the coming months. The letter urges Obama and Congress to stop the reduction in investments in universities so that innovation can flourish and in turn strengthen the economy.
“Graduates produce much of the intellectual wealth of this country,” Gottfredson said. “It really is investment and the next generation of ideas that will enhance the quality of life.”
Gottfredson and his colleagues addressed in the letter that throughout the history of the United States, research and higher education have been responsible for the country’s success as an innovation leader. The letter points out that “more than half of U.S. economic growth since World War II is a consequence of technological innovation.”
Such breakthroughs have resulted in life saving technologies such as MRI and vaccines as well as inventions that have strengthened economic growth such as touchscreens and the Internet. All of this, Gottfredson and his colleagues wrote, was due in large part to government investment into research and higher education.
“Much of the reason why we think it is important is because of the return on investment,” Gottfredson said of government funding of higher education.
The lack of government investment has created an innovation deficit that has reduced the United States’ role as an innovation leader compared to other nations, Gottfredson and his colleagues argued in the letter. The United States became a model for other countries such as China, Singapore and South Korea. Over the past decade these countries have invested into research and higher education at two to four times the rate of the United States.
Furthermore, they pointed out that the United States is now 12th among developed countries in the number of young adults who have college degrees.
The letter ultimately calls on leaders in Washington to carry out the budget toward research and higher education in order to close the innovation deficit.
“We call upon you to reject unsound budget cuts and recommit to strong and sustained investments in research and education,” wrote Gottfredson and his colleagues in the letter to Obama and congress. “Only then can we ensure that our nation’s promise of a better tomorrow endures.”