Presidential Blog

In Japan, 120 alumni, parents, donors, partners and friends turned out at the Tokyo American Club for a Husky reception on April 15. The event was part of our weeklong goodwill visit to Taiwan and Japan. Below is the official transcript of his remarks from the event.

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I want to tell you about a very long-lived and rewarding partnership between researchers at the University of Washington’s marine laboratory in Friday Harbor, Washington, and marine laboratories in Japan.

For decades, a fruitful exchange has occurred between Friday Harbor Laboratories and the Misaki Marine Laboratory, and the Sugishima Marine Laboratory at Nagoya University. This arrangement has recently been formalized as the Edward Sylvester Morse Institute through the dedication and philanthropy of faculty, individual donors, and the Mikimoto Pearl Company.

We are delighted to have among our guests two very important supporters of this effort, Professor Motonori Hoshi and Dr Makoto Omore (the latter received his Ph.D. from UW Oceanography). Thank you for all you have personally and professionally contributed to the ES Morse Institute.

This year, 2014 we are celebrating the UW Alumni Association’s 125^th anniversary with Huskies here in Japan. In 1889, a small group of UW alumni organized themselves to better support the University. Ever since, alumni chapters have cropped up around the world. In fact, there are organized alumni chapters dotting 13 countries around the globe, from Peru to the United Arab Emirates. And the UWAA Japan is one of our strongest. Alumni in Japan have played a vital role in keeping their fellow Huskies connected, informed and involved with the University. I want to thank all of the gracious volunteers and alumni involved with the Japan Huskies, who make events like tonight, special and keep the Husky spirit strong across the Pacific.

Before I give you an update about some exciting things happening at UW, I’d like to share a few points of pride. National Taiwan University ranks us 1^st in scientific research among American public universities. And we are the 13^th best university in the world according to U.S. News & World Report. I’ve been in higher education for a while now, and I’ve learned that the best universities have the most engaged supporters. And as we can see by these rankings, the UW is among the best universities not only in the United States, but in the world.

You are a key reason for that success. In this room tonight there are business people, civic leaders, educators, artists, parents and alumni. And though we come from different backgrounds, our common bond is purple and gold; we are a community of people joined together by how deeply we care about the University of Washington.

When alumni, parents, donors and friends invest in the UW, more Huskies can focus their unbridled energy on their studies instead of worrying about making ends meet. In fact, in the last fiscal year alone, we were able to create 37 new undergraduate scholarships, 33 graduate fellowships and 59 funds that help our students.

It’s because of private philanthropy that our students, faculty and researchers are able to thrive and bring their innovations out of the classroom and into the real world. The UW produces good global citizens, and we graduate the thinkers, doers and innovators who are making our world a better place. And we are succeeding thanks to the support of our closest friends and alumni.

Last week we were in Taiwan to attend the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM) Asia Conference in Taipei. I was honored to give the AUTM Conference keynote address on innovation and entrepreneurism in higher education based on the UW’s long-standing success in commercialization.

In 2013, the UW had a banner year, placing us among the top five schools in the United States for startup formation by producing a record 17 new companies through our Center for Commercialization (C4C). The UW is first in the number of licenses issued as well as first in different types of licenses, such as biotech, metadata, etc. And we intend to top our record in the coming years, thanks to 80 robust projects in the startup pipeline through our C4C New Ventures Program.

Universities contribute to society in a number of ways. One of the most important contributions we can make is to transform our research into new products, treatments, cures, and devices, etc. that will have a positive impact. In order to do that, we have created an innovation ecosystem at the UW to provide space and systems to support faculty, researchers, students and entrepreneurs to have the best chance to succeed. And the results are extraordinary.

Job Creation

• On average, 60 jobs created in new companies
• Kaufmann Foundation study (Economic Impact Report 2010) – 80% new jobs were created by companies 5 years old or newer
• Job opportunities for UW grads

Economy Boosts

• Developing new companies in state/region and attracting investors from out of state increases tax base
• Creating wealth, leading to more investment, commitment to state/region
• Attracting / retaining faculty members
• Translationally directed – ability to make an impact through teaching and basic research / and rewarded financially for entrepreneurialism (who could make more money in private industry) because they get best of both (academic research and commercial enterprise).

Global Collaboration

As a first-tier world university, it is incumbent upon us to be engaged with our international partners so that we can extend the extraordinary work of our faculty and students to places where it can do the most good. During our visit to Taiwan, we were guests of Taiwan’s Ministry of Education to tour National Taiwan University, National Chung Hsing University and National Chiao Tung University.

• International education/research campus with promising Asian and European universities and potential private partners.
• Exciting new ideas and plans for bringing the UW to the world and the world to the UW.
• Opportunity to create on a larger scale

What’s Next?

• UW is 2^nd only to Microsoft in creating spin-offs in software
• UW has life sciences and technology research pipelines for potential commercialization
• Exciting opportunities for new innovation, commercialization, growth, etc.
• Mutual benefits for local, regional, state, national governments.
• Benefit to UW as well, but not exclusive
• Collective interest in providing support for the best chance of positive outcomes

Many of our startups are based on UW research that is funded by private support. We are able to do this because of you. The UW is especially grateful for the support we receive from our alumni, family and friends. We can accomplish so much when we put our minds together toward common goals. Thank you for your gracious hospitality. It truly is great to be with you here in Tokyo.

Michael K. Young
UW President

Wherever I travel and meet Huskies, I am reminded what a special place the University of Washington truly is. The UW educates global citizens who are innovators and entrepreneurs working together to solve the world’s most pressing challenges. Their work is strengthened by our partnerships at home and abroad; we can better meet the needs of Washington state and the world through international collaboration.

Our meetings and events in Taiwan and Japan have fortified existing partnerships and initiated new ones. We have a memorandum of agreement with Waseda University to partner on its new Center for Teaching, Learning & Technology. I was welcomed by Taiwan’s Ministry of Education on a tour to strengthen our relationships with that country’s top universities. And I made some wonderful connections before and after my keynote address at the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM) Asia Conference in Taipei.

The trip was notable, too, because it was an opportunity to help the UW Alumni Association celebrate its 125^th anniversary with so many Huskies overseas. In 1889, a small group of UW alumni organized themselves to better support the university. Ever since, alumni chapters have cropped up around the world. In fact, there are organized alumni chapters dotting 13 countries around the globe, from Peru to the United Arab Emirates.

I was honored and humbled to spend time with some of the most ardent UW alumni and friends in Japan and Taiwan this week, and I am extraordinarily heartened to see how deeply Husky pride spans the Pacific. Together, we are building a stronger future for our state, our nations and our world.

 

It is an especially exciting day for Huskies! Today I signed a memorandum of agreement to formalize a brand new partnership with Waseda University, Japan’s most prestigious private institution. Together, we’ll build Waseda’s new Center for Teaching, Learning & Technology.

This is a truly international partnership. It builds upon the UW’s existing innovations in technology to transform the learning experience of students; it moves the UW from training Waseda faculty on our Seattle campus to partnering together in Tokyo; and it allows us to do collaborative and comparative research on innovative uses of technology in education in both the U.S. and Japan.

The long-term student learning outcomes from the new center will have a meaningful impact on classrooms in both of our countries. This is the type of research collaboration that will benefit the UW, Washington state and our world.

The partnership was made possible, in part, because of the UW’s long-standing history with Japan. In 1894, our first Japanese student, Jinta Yamaguchi, arrived in Seattle. Since then, hundreds of Japanese students have made the journey over the ocean and UW students have joyously made the reverse-trek. Japanese is the second-most studied language at the UW, and today the demand for the study of Japanese history, culture and language has never been stronger. This warms my heart more than ever as my affection for Japan has only deepened since I first traveled there more than four decades ago. I am delighted and eager to continue this legacy of educational exchange between the UW and our Japanese friends and partners at Waseda University.

 

Anyone who knows me knows I am passionate about innovation and its implementation. One of our key responsibilities as a public research institution is to address our great global challenges.

Professor and chair of the UW’s Department of Electrical Engineering and director of the Applied Computational Engineering Laboratory, Vikram Jandhyala, one of the UW’s brightest innovators and entrepreneurs gave the keynote address to a group of Taiwan Huskies at a special reception focused on the UW’s banner year in innovation and entrepreneurship.

Dr. Jandhyala is at the fore of the UW’s commercialization progress. An avid researcher, he has published more than 150 papers. He lectures regularly on computational electromagnetics, signal and power integrity, electronic design automation and entrepreneurship, a subject he knows very well. Dr. Jandhyala is a founder and chairman of Nimbic, Inc., a cloud-based, venture-funded startup in electronic design automation, as well as a Presidential Entrepreneurial Faculty Fellow in the UW’s Center for Commercialization.

Thank you to the 750+ participants attending my keynote address, Economic Impact of Universities and Research Institutes, at the Association of University Technology Managers – Asia conference in Taipei yesterday. It was an honor to be with you and among so many who share my enthusiasm for innovation.

The UW has been developing our own ecosystem for technology entrepreneurship over the past five years. As a result, we have doubled the number of start-ups we launch each year, and our 17 technology start-ups in FY13 rank us in the top five universities nationally.

 

Despite being an ocean away from Seattle, it is simply wonderful to see such strong Husky pride in this extraordinary country. Tonight I met with more than 100 alumni and friends who are part of a long tradition of Huskies living and working in Taiwan. I was honored that Kung-Yee Liang, ’82, president of National Yang Ming University and the alumni chapter’s chairman, welcomed our delegation.

The celebration was particularly special because we honored Simon Sze, ’60, with the UW College of Engineering’s Diamond Award, which recognizes outstanding alumni and friends who have made significant contributions to the field of engineering. Mr. Sze’s contributions have indeed been remarkable. His contributions to semiconductor physics revolutionized the development of modern electronic systems. Memory storage in cell phones, digital cameras, GPS devices and even refrigerators we use today are possible because of Mr. Sze, co-inventor of the nonvolatile semiconductor memory (NVSM). His book, Physics of Semiconductor Devices, is one of the most cited works in contemporary engineering and science publications with more than 22,000 citations and translations in six languages.

For decades, Taiwanese students like Mr. Sze have been making their way to the University of Washington to enrich our campus and inspire American students to travel abroad. In fact, some of our most popular exchange programs are in Taiwan, including agreements between the Foster School of Business and National Chengchi University, as well as the UW School of Nursing and National Cheng Kung University.

Inspired by our 426 current UW students from Taiwan, we are working to build strong Pacific Rim partnerships in education, business and research with institutions like National Taiwan University, which ranks the UW 1^st in scientific research among American public universities. Thank you, Taiwan Huskies, for celebrating these partnerships with me.

 

For university presidents, a significant measure of our success is the amount of money raised for the university. Thus, I am very fortunate for the many enthusiastic and generous supporters of the UW, whose passion for and commitment to their beloved institution often translates into a pledge of financial support.

For some in academia, the idea of “dialing for dollars” holds little to no appeal. But a New York Times article I read this weekend provides a compelling argument for why fundraising can be quite fulfilling, both for the funder and the fundraiser. It echoes something I have been saying for years. Our main goal is to help people who want to do good with their resources do precisely that: good!

In the article, Arthur C. Brooks, president of the nonprofit American Enterprise Institute, writes, “Donors possess two disconnected commodities: material wealth and sincere convictions. Alone, these commodities are difficult to combine. But fund-raisers facilitate an alchemy of virtue: They empower those with financial resources to convert the dross of their money into the gold of a better society.”

This is something people want to do because it makes them, and those who benefit, happy.

Brooks continues, “…research confirms that in terms of quantifying ‘happiness,’ spending money on oneself barely moves the needle, but spending on others causes a significant increase.”

For anyone who occasionally dons a fundraiser’s hat—this makes clear what good you do.