Commentary: America must invest in its ability to innovate
In July of 1945, in an America just beginning to establish a postwar identity, former MIT vice president Vannevar Bush set forth a vision that guided the country to decades of scientific dominance and economic prosperity. Bush’s report to the president of the United States, “Science: The Endless Frontier,” called on the government to support basic research in university labs. Its ideas, including the creation of the National Science Foundation (NSF), are credited with helping to make U.S. scientific and technological innovation the envy of the world. Today, America’s lead in science and technology is being challenged as never before, write MIT President L. Rafael Reif and Indiana University President Michael A. McRobbie in an op-ed published today by The Chicago Tribune. They describe a “triple challenge” of bolder foreign competitors, faster technological change, and a merciless race to get from lab to market. The government’s decision to adopt Bush’s ideas was...