interpretations
The 21st Century Globally Networked University
21st century has “ The brought on the globally networked university, and the University of Maryland, as always, is ready to assume a leadership role in this exciting new world of higher education. —wallace d. Loh
terp winter 2012
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The mid-19th century gave us the land-grant university, the proud heritage of the University of Maryland. With its focus on science and technology, land-grant institutions helped our nation in its transition from an agrarian to an industrial economy. The mid-20th century produced the research university. The towering expansion after World War II of competitive federal research funding for universities helped Maryland produce experts in physics, the aeronautical sciences, the life sciences and more. This resulted in American supremacy in science and technology and contributed to economic growth in our state and beyond. The 21st century has brought on the globally networked university, and the University of Maryland, as always, is ready to assume a leadership role in this exciting new world of higher education. Today’s challenges—how to feed, fuel, heal, house, secure and sustain this planet’s population of 7 billion—are global challenges. Furthermore, Maryland students are no longer competing for jobs against graduates from Boston and San Francisco, but also against graduates from Bangalore and Shanghai. Leading American universities are now engaged in a global talent race, collaborating with—and competing for—the most capable minds in the world to power today’s knowledge-based and innovation-driven economy. We are in an era of “collabtition”—collaboration and competition on a global scale. The Asia-Pacific region may become the economic epicenter of this century, so I was pleased that Gov. O’Malley invited UMD to
be part of his delegation to India. In October, the presidents of about 20 Indian universities visited the College Park campus. They told me about their country’s goal to create more than 25,000 universities and colleges over the next 20 years in order to produce 500 million new graduates. The scale of this vision dwarfs any educational planning in the U.S. The UMD delegation, accompanied at times by Gov. O’Malley, met with the leaders of eight universities, senior government officials in education and commerce, and officials of the largest industrial house in India. We signed agreements for joint educational and research ventures. For example, UMD recently established the nation’s first international food safety testing laboratory, in partnership with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and a Maryland manufacturer of food testing equipment. We met with the Indian agency responsible for food standards and exports. India wants to partner with us to establish similar training labs there. This represents the international expansion of our land-grant mission. One evening, I met with an Indian entrepreneur who was educated in the U.S. and now runs a startup company in India. He said 20 percent of his job applicants are from the U.S., many of them non-Indian Americans. He runs a global company with customers worldwide and hires graduates with a global outlook. This is why a globally networked UMD matters—for the future of our students, our state and our nation.
—Wallace D. Loh, President
Portrait by John T. Consoli
1/24/12 5:07 PM