Research Universities and the Public Good

Jason Owen-Smith is Professor of Sociology, Executive Director for the Institute for Research on Innovation & Science (IRIS), Barger Leadership Institute Professor and Director, and Research Professor in the Institute for Social Research, Survey Research Center at the University of Michigan.

• Introduction: Knowledge, Infrastructure, and the Need for Change1. A System to Insure the Future2. The Organization of Research Universities3. Sources of Discovery: Networks on Campus4. Community Anchors: Building Resilience and Connection 5. Hubs Linking Communities: Generating Solutions for Known and Unknown Problems6. Facing the Future Together

"A well-argued, data-rich defense of the irreplaceable role of American research universities—not only in science, engineering, and education, but in our national life. Now, more than ever, we need this book's deep appreciation of research universities' power to be sources, anchors, and hubs for 'beautiful accidents' in learning and innovation."—Kei Koizumi, American Association for the Advancement of Science "In this book, Jason Owen-Smith integrates innovative with previously disarticulated data to measure the outputs of our nation's research universities, institutions that prepare us for an increasingly complex future. In so doing, he compellingly reveals the mechanisms and pathways that produce positive societal results."—Mary Sue Coleman, President of the Association of American Universities "Less than 3% of all universities conduct 90% of funded research. This important book offers a careful, empirical account of how these research universities work – and their crucial contributions as anchors for communities, regions, and industries, and hubs for flows of knowledge and social connections. This is important reading not just to understand higher education, but to understand America's future."—Craig Calhoun, University Professor of Social Sciences, Arizona State University "Research Universities and the Public Good provides a strong argument for the importance of research universities...Presenting numerous case studies that show...why [research universities] matter, this book offers a fresh and readable defense of the American research university."––Maryann P. Feldman, Academe "The current discourse on universities, which narrowly conceives of them as mechanism for delivering degrees to students, desperately needs the message that Owen-Smith delivers here....[A] powerfully framed contribution to the literature on U.S. higher education"—David F. Labaree, American Journal of Sociology "This book is a timely reinforcement of the importance of research universities based on the public value they generate....[It] should interest researchers and policy makers concerned with innovation, growth, and how we can best address global challenges of the future."—Anna Valero, Journal of Economic Literature "In this beautifully crafted book, Owen-Smith explores the critical and central role that research universities play in the modern economy....This book should be of great interest to both policy makers and academic researchers interested in understanding the research university's role in modern innovation ecosystems and in our economy and society more broadly."—Wesley D. Sine and Xirong (Subrina) Shen, Administrative Science Quarterly