There’s a lot of cynicism in today’s world as the politics of hate and fear reverberate across the country, and millennials get harangued for thinking only about themselves.
But Ana Mari Cauce — who was appointed president of the University of Washington last fall — is optimistic about the future.
Why?
The Cuban-born psychology professor sees a positive trend emerging on campus. Students are mixing entrepreneurship with social good in new and creative ways.
“I think it is all about collaboration,” said Cauce, who spoke at the Edelman Trust Barometer breakfast in Seattle on Tuesday. “And, if you look at the modern university, we would not be able to do what we are doing without close collaborations, with government and with business.”
She added that students are mixing government studies, business and social work with entrepreneurship in interesting ways at the UW, with Cauce citing one project to use social media to create a suicide prevention system.
Here’s more of what Cauce had to say:
“One of the things I find remarkable is when I think about where a lot of the energy of our students is: We are seeing them both of those directions are very attractive. We see students who are very invested, for example, in our Evans School of Public Policy, which is just booming in terms of applications. And same thing in terms of the school of education, and social work. There really is a group of students that is very invested in being involved in government, and making it better.
At the same time, we have a booming culture of entrepreneurship. The business school has more and more applications. Computer science, you all know we have to double that program, just to catch up. And one of the things that is really exciting. These students, in their dorm rooms, they are starting companies. And, the part that is most exciting to me, is the overlap. The social entrepreneurship. Taking that same kind of quick, rapid model that you see in business and applying it to what we normally think of public sector. And I think that is an area where collaboration needs to get better and better.
I don’t think it is as simple as: Fast is always good. Or that rapid adaptation is always good. I like to think of universities as, on the one hand there is a timelessness to them that we don’t want to mess with and there is a reason why these institutions have been around for thousands of years, while lots of governments and businesses have come and gone. But, at the same time, we want to be timely and we want to be quicker at adapting. And I think that is where the collaboration is coming together. And I see it in our student body, so I am very, very hopeful when I see the kids from the Evans School and business and social work working together…. I think what this next generation is doing is really exciting, and we have to give them a push up and give them a home.”
When appointed last fall, Cauce said she’ll continue to help push forward research and innovation efforts at the UW, which was ranked No. 4 in a Reuters ranking of the world’s most innovative universities last year.
