Texas A&M’s Vice President for Research Mark A. Barteau will participate in the 2018 University Senior Research Officer Roundtable: The Economic Impact of Fundamental Scientific Research on Wednesday, July 18, in Washington, D.C.
The Roundtable, sponsored by the Science Coalition and the Association of American Universities (AAU), will be available via livestream from 1-2:30 p.m. ET, on the Science Coalition and AAU’s Facebook pages. Senior research officers from 10 universities around the country will discuss the economic impacts of fundamental research done on university campuses—federal investments in scientific research and higher education, the economic impact of partnering with private industry to develop university discoveries into commercial products and processes and the effect of federal regulations and reporting requirements on university research.
“With the government’s strategic support of research initiatives at universities, we will continue to generate new discoveries and technologies that will impact the nation’s prosperity and security,” says Barteau. “These investments are the fuel for the American economy and the very essence of American competitiveness.”
Barteau noted that federal scientific research funding has consistently paid enormous dividends. The return on investment from federal support for scientific research benefits our health, security and economy.
“When federal agencies fund research at our universities, they not only help solve today’s challenges, they help train the next generation of researchers,” said Barteau. “Together, we have built the most effective engine for scientific and economic progress in the world, since a portion of every dollar awarded ends up going to educate and train the undergraduate and graduate students who become our future researchers, business leaders, entrepreneurs and teachers.”
A member of the National Academy of Engineering, Barteau has successfully competed for research funding from the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research and NASA. Before joining Texas A&M in the spring of 2018, he was the director of the University of Michigan Energy Institute, the DTE Energy Professor of Advanced Energy Research and held a joint appointment in chemical engineering and chemistry. Prior to joining the University of Michigan, he served as the senior vice provost for research and strategic initiatives at the University of Delaware, where he held the Robert L. Pigford Endowed Chair of Chemical Engineering and was a professor of chemistry and biochemistry.
The roundtable discussion will be a moderated on-the-record discussion with opportunities for members of the national media to ask research, policy and economy-related questions of the participants at the end. Participating universities include not only Texas A&M but also Pennsylvania State University, Brown University, Vanderbilt University, Washington State University, Northern Illinois University, the University of Oregon, the University of Colorado-Boulder, Rutgers University and the University of Kansas.
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About Research at Texas A&M University: As one of the world’s leading research institutions, Texas A&M is at the forefront in making significant contributions to scholarship and discovery. Texas A&M ranked in the top 20 of the National Science Foundation’s Higher Education Research and Development survey (2016), based on expenditures of more than $892.7 million in fiscal year 2016. In 2017, research conducted at Texas A&M represented annual expenditures of more than $905 million. Texas A&M’s research creates new knowledge that provides basic, fundamental and applied contributions resulting, in economic benefits and improved quality of life for citizens of the state, nation and world. To learn more, visit http://research.tamu.edu.
Media Contact: Susan Wolff, (979) 847-9365, s-wolff@tamu.edu
