We need to determine where we collectively want to take this University as it enters its third century. Strengthening science and engineering is both urgent and crucial. This should not be at the expense of other quality endeavors. But if this important portion of the University is not strengthened, I believe that the University will be, and will be perceived to be, inadequate to the task of creating the knowledge that society needs and wants and inadequate to the task of educating citizens who must cope with this increasingly complex and technical world. One author describes this world as a permanent white water river, in terms of what a person has to steer through in order to succeed professionally and to live life.
Technology is the greatest contributor to the roiling of the waters-for good, and for ill.
The University can make it more to the good. We can teach future generations to navigate that white water. To do so our students must be able to reason about issues with substantial technical aspects. She chairs the University's Virginia 2020 Science and Technology Planning Commission, and co-chairs the Governor's Virginia Research and Technology Advisory Commission. This article originally appeared in the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service newsletter.