Publisher Description

Universities were once ivory towers where scholarship and teaching reigned supreme, or so we tell ourselves. Whether they were ever as pure as we think, it is certainly the case that they are pure no longer. Administrators look to patents as they seek money by commercializing faculty discoveries; they pour money into sports with the expectation that these spectacles will somehow bring in revenue; they sign contracts with soda and fast-food companies, legitimizing the dominance of a single brand on campus; and they charge for distance learning courses that they market widely. In this volume, edited by Donald G. Stein, university presidents and others in higher education leadership positions comment on the many connections between business and scholarship when intellectual property and learning is treated as a marketable commodity. Some contributors write about the benefits of these connections in providing much needed resources. Others emphasize that the thirst for profits may bias the type of research that is carried out and the quality of that research. They fear for the future of basic research if faculty are in search of immediate payoffs.

The majority of the contributors acknowledge that commercialization is the current reality and has progressed too far to return to the "good old days." They propose guidelines for students and professors to govern commercial activities. Such guidelines can increase the likelihood that quality, openness, and collegiality will remain core academic values. 

Author Biography

DONALD G. STEIN is the ASA G. Candler Professor of Emergency Medicine and Neurology at Emory University School of Medicine. Previously he was vice provost for graduate studies, dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and interim vice president for research.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
1 A personal perspective on the selling of academia / Donald G. Stein
2 College Sports, Inc. / Murray Sperber
3 The benefits and cost of commercialization of the academy / Derek Bok
4 Increased commercialization of the academy following the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980 / Mary Good
5 Delicate balance / James J. Duderstadt
6 Pushing the envelope in university involvement with commercialization / Ronald A. Bohlander
7 Conflicting goals and values / Karen A. Holbrook and Eric C. Dahl
8 Buyer and seller views of university/industry licensing / Jerry G. Thursby and Marie C. Thursby
9 The increasingly proprietary nature of publicly funded biomedical research / Arti Rai
10 The clinical trials business / Marcia Angell
11 Reforming research ethics in an age of multivested science / Sheldon Krimsky
12 The academy and industry / Zach W. Hall
13 Responsible innovation in the commercialized university / David Guston
Contributions
index

Long Description

Universities were once ivory towers where scholarship and teaching reigned supreme, or so we tell ourselves. Whether they were ever as pure as we think, it is certainly the case that they are pure no longer. Administrators look to patents as they seek money by commercializing faculty discoveries; they pour money into sports with the expectation that these spectacles will somehow bring in revenue; they sign contracts with soda and fast-food companies, legitimizing the dominance of a single brand on campus; and they charge for distance learning courses that they market widely. In this volume, edited by Donald G. Stein, university presidents and others in higher education leadership positions comment on the many connections between business and scholarship when intellectual property and learning is treated as a marketable commodity. Some contributors write about the benefits of these connections in providing much needed resources. Others emphasize that the thirst for profits may bias the type of research that is carried out and the quality of that research. They fear for the future of basic research if faculty are in search of immediate payoffs. The majority of the contributors acknowledge that commercialization is the current reality and has progressed too far to return to the ?good old days.? They propose guidelines for students and professors to govern commercial activities. Such guidelines can increase the likelihood that quality, openness, and collegiality will remain core academic values.

Description for Reader

DONALD G. STEIN is the ASA G. Candler Professor of Emergency Medicine and Neurology at Emory University School of Medicine. Previously he was vice provost for graduate studies, dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and interim vice president for research.

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