Editorials and Commentaries on WVU Research
Science, Discovery and Innovation: A Proven Economic Development Approach
Curt M. Peterson, Vice President for Research and Economic Development, West Virginia University and President, WVU Research Corporation
From Bowles Rice publication “Views and Visions” Spring 2009
In the closing days of World War II and only months before his passing, President Franklin D. Roosevelt took stock of the America that would be transforming from war to peace and realized that economic challenges were just ahead when millions of soldiers would become workers and the nation’s vast war-making networks of factories and installations would no longer assemble the tools of war.
He knew the role that science, discovery and innovation played in winning the peace and he was counting on that same formula to win prosperity. Roosevelt wrote that, “New frontiers of the mind are before us, and if they are pioneered with the same vision, boldness, and drive with which we have waged this war we can create a fuller and more fruitful employment and a fuller and more fruitful life.”
He turned to his science advisor – the first person to ever hold that role, a studious heralded scientist named Vannevar Bush – and asked for input on how to prepare for the changes ahead. Bush responded with an impressive work titled “Science – the Endless Frontier.”
It was an eloquent argument in support of America’s colleges and universities where the basic research that Roosevelt and Bush saw as the key to new prosperity lived then and lives today.
Bush’s report should be delivered to and studied by every policy maker in Washington at work on the economic crisis that faces us today. His message was wide-ranging, deep and thought provoking but so well written that it made its point in two key sentences.
“New products, new industries, and more jobs require continuous additions to knowledge of the laws of nature, and the application of that knowledge to practical purposes,” Vannevar Bush wrote in response to Roosevelt’s challenge. “...This essential, new knowledge can be obtained only through basic scientific research.
The West Virginia University Research Corporation is proud to support and pursue the stand of Vannevar Bush with a record of accomplishment and visionary plans for new scientific progress to prove it. That work centers both on basic research and targeted efforts to answer specific needs like the drive to attain energy independence from foreign oil.
At West Virginia University, hundreds of faculty researchers and graduate students are engaged in research projects that add to the knowledge of the laws of nature, which are then transitioned into practical purposes. WVU research and discoveries in energy, biomedicine, homeland security, nanotechnology and a host of other fields and interdisciplinary initiatives are aimed at making people’s lives better.
For example, WVU researchers in chemistry, performing basic research on proteins, resulted in creation of new protein identification technology that now serves as the core of a promising new biomedical industry right here in West Virginia.
A more targeted research approach is represented by WVU’s energy work. Our Advanced Energy Initiative unveiled last fall seeks to find new answers to America’s energy headache while building upon decades of solid research. That means keeping our scientists busy:
- Searching for effective ways to sequester carbon from coal to provide a cleaner and abundant energy source
- Researching new biomass technologies that can transform wood chips and switch grass into viable fuel alternatives
- Investigating new wind turbine configurations and technologies that are more environmentally friendly to wildlife and more effective in generating electricity.
And, of course, there is the incredible health science research under way at the Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center. For example, the National Cancer Institute recently awarded the WVU Department of Pediatrics a five-year, $1.47 million grant to study stem cells and treatment of lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Almost a quarter of all children with cancer suffer from ALL.
When breakthroughs in health sciences lead to new products, new industries and new jobs, they can, in the worlds of Roosevelt, “create a fuller and more fruitful employment and a fuller and more fruitful life.”
One of the key problems WVU faces is keeping the progress coming. In the difficult economy, resources are scarce no matter how promising the outcome.
Innovation is required in the halls of government, and corporate boardrooms as well as the laboratory. That’s why West Virginia was so forward thinking a year ago when it approved legislation creating the Research Trust Fund (initially known as Bucks for Brains). The program established a $50 million state fund that can match research dollars that are raised at WVU for the kinds of scientific endeavors that embody the vision of Roosevelt and Bush.
The tools of progress that we have to use are the skills and talents of expert researchers; the facilities we are able to provide them; and the funding and support we are able to garner from the public and private sectors. WVU is counting on that continued support and stands ready to show off its progress and vision to the men and women who can keep the momentum going. A challenging future can be less difficult as a result.
In his inaugural address, President Barack Obama specifically called on universities to help “meet the demands of a new age through knowledge, science, technology and research.”
He has pledged to double basic research funding for physical and life sciences, mathematics and engineering over the next decade. That is extremely encouraging and supports the work of the West Virginia congressional delegation, which has stood tall in the fight to fund basic research.
Basic research is not an expense or a drag on the economy; it is an investment in our future. It is the engine that can pull us up and out of the economic quagmire. Augmented with support from the private sector where leaders recognize the double opportunity of improved lives and economic development, WVU can continue to play a key role in shaping the future.
Shale gas could move U.S. toward energy independence
By Donald W. Lyons, WVU professor of engineering
March 12, 2009
Beneath Appalachia, from West Virginia to New York State, is the Marcellus shale, a vast source of natural gas that could help position West Virginia and neighboring states for a clean energy future. Read more in the Huntington Herald-Dispatch.
Basic research can pull America out of economic quagmire
By Dr. Curt M. Peterson, WVU VP for Research and Economic Development
The ascension of new American leadership always leads to a sense of change and the expectation that a new administration will initiate solid solutions to the most pressing problems that confront the nation. Because the economy is one of those key problems, it is the right time for focused consideration of the role of basic research as a workhorse for changing the course of the American economy. Read more in the Record – West Virginia’s Legal Journal
West Virginia is the best place to turn coal into fuel
Op Ed Commentary by WV Gov. Joe Manchin and C. Peter Magrath, WVU Interim President
THE energy summit last week brought together experts from the public and private sectors for a real wrestling match with America’s energy dilemma. There were presentations about carbon sequestration; coal gasification; carbon credit markets; wind, solar and hydropower energy generation options; and other complex challenges that sit before us like unopened Christmas presents bound up with tight stubborn paper and bows of steel. Read more in the Charleston Gazette
West Virginia Can Lead Transition to a Low-Carbon Future
WVU’s Dr. Carl Irwin writes about how West Virginia can create a vibrant new business development scene, be recognized as part of the solution and invigorate the state with new industry, investment dollars and R&D funds. Read more in the State Journal.
Bowl Game Rivals are Health Care Partners
Rivals on the football field in the recent Meineke Car Care Bowl, West Virginia University and the University of North Carolina are successful partners in rural health research. Both universities’ rural health research centers were among only six programs selected nationally for research grants by the Office of Rural Health Policy at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.Red more in an op ed commentary in the Charlotte Observer by C. Peter Magrath, WVU Interim President, and Holden Thorp, Chancellor of UNC Chapel Hill.
