President Stanley Testifies at Congressional Hearing on How Research and Innovation
Fuel Local Economies
Universities must nurture “both the students we educate and the entrepreneurs in our midst"
WASHINGTON, D.C., June 30, 2010 - "Basic research funding is critical" to the future of the U.S. economy, Stony Brook University President Samuel L. Stanley Jr., M.D., testified yesterday at a hearing on Capitol Hill.
Together with other prominent educators and businesspersons, Dr. Stanley discussed how federally funded university research
drives innovation that contributes to local economies. The hearing, convened by the Congressional Joint Economic
Committee and chaired by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), also included expert testimony from Zachary Shulman, senior lecturer of entrepreneurship at Cornell University’s Johnson School of
business and managing partner at Cayuga Venture Fund; and Dane Stangler, Kauffman
Foundation researcher on behalf of Dr. Robert Litan, vice president of research and policy at the
Kauffman Foundation and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.
Dr. Stanley's testimony explained how Stony Brook is helping to transfer university-based knowledge into the broader community and what this
means in terms of local job creation and economic growth.
As the largest single-site employer on Long Island and the leading technology transfer campus in the State University of New York (SUNY) system, Stony Brook is an integral component of the local, regional, and national economies, Dr. Stanley testified. The University’s aggregate economic impact amounts to more than $4.6 billion annually. Stony Brook contributes to innovation and job creation in a multitude of ways – from nurturing students and would be-entrepreneurs with business incubation programs to conducting world-class research, and from hosting centers of excellence in wireless and information technology and advanced energy and research to operating the Stony Brook University Medical Center and the Brookhaven National Laboratory.
Dr. Stanley said the University’s economic development programs “enable us to partner with businesses of any size at any stage of
development, from cradle to Fortune 500. Recent cumulative data demonstrate that, through
these programs, our University has helped to create or retain more than 17,000 jobs and assisted many hundreds of companies to obtain more than $600 million in financing and
increased corporate revenues.”
Dr. Stanley shared “secrets of success” with the members of the Joint Economic Committee, including the importance of talent and nurturing “both the students we educate and the entrepreneurs in our midst”; the understanding that “strong national economies are based on strong economic regions;” that [the] Bayh-Dole [Act] works by "help[ing] our nation maintain its lead in bringing innovation to people;” and that basic research funding is critical.
Dr. Stanley's complete testimony can be read here.
See also:
The Science Coalition Press Release
