The Impact of Innovation,'' describing the impressive economic benefits flowing from the university, including the creation of 14,000 jobs in Cambridge alone at companies founded by its faculty and graduates. Similarly, in 1995, the University of California distributed a report called ''UC Means Business'' pointing out that, among other things, some 80 companies had spun out of the university's San Diego campus, providing more than 7,000 jobs to the region, largely in biotech and biomedical companies. Every one of the nine University of California campuses has a high-technology cluster near it, said Robert Shelton, the system's vice provost for research. Other universities are just now joining in this promotion of a commercial emphasis. Last week Harvard, not exactly known as a dirty-fingernails kind of place, detailed for the first time the overall lift it gives the local economy.
Molds can be messy to break, however.
Experts say many universities balk at commercialization of their long-sacrosanct intellectual pursuits. We're not in the business of business, and we're not in the business of creating businesses. For example, university research ought to be looking out 10 and 15 years, because if we don't do it, companies don't do it for sure. Reviews are mixed, too, on the impact that the high-technology boomlets spun out of universities have on local communities. Kendall Square, with its brick high-rises and cleverly rehabilitated factory buildings, may look palatial compared with its sludgy former self.