Fall 2007 issue of Horizons

Guest Article Tom George, Chancelor - University of Missouri - St. Louis

skills and curiosity to continuously create and apply knowledge. It’s an approach that has benefited both the individual and the greater society. A college graduate today earns as much as $1 million a year on average over a working lifetime than someone with just a high school diploma. The college graduate also is less likely to be unemployed and is more likely to vote, volunteer and donate to charities. They also pay more taxes. All of this, I think, should weigh more in the decision to invest public resources. Public investments in public higher education pay unusually high dividends. The alumni office at the University of Missouri-St. Louis calculates that UMSL graduates earn about $3.5 billion annually – which is $1.5 billion more than they would have earned without their degree. They also contribute $860 million in taxes annually – which is $412 million more than they would have without their degree. This distinction is especially important to the St. Louis region, since UMSL has more alumni living in St. Louis than any other university. The last census showed that 72 percent of UMSL’s 70,000 graduates live in the 16-county region. It’s often said – by me if no one else – that UMSL educates St. Louis. Knowledge Clusters. The model of using knowledge to produce economic benefits is an undeniable success. The Research Triangle in North Carolina and Silicon Valley in California are well-known examples. Entrepreneur faculty and students in these examples have created new industries and products that sprung from the knowledge originated in the nearby classrooms and laboratories in a process that refreshes itself over and over as new university-originated findings and ideas spur ever-new industries and products. The key to this model, of course, is not in trying to bring various university and corporate people together to manage knowledge, but to connect and nurture people with knowledge who are inclined to collaborate. This effort necessitates a work environment that supports lifelong learning, cooperation and openness. I’m happy to say that St. Louis corporations and universities are increasingly demonstrating these traits.

Putting Knowledge to Work

Knowledge for knowledge’s sake is a centuries-old philosophy in higher education. Seeking or creating new information for no particular pre-determined purpose remains an important component of higher education, but today universities increasingly are creating knowledge to produce specific social and economic benefits. Land-grant universities such as the University of Missouri- St. Louis have a three-fold mission of teaching, research and service. The service component encourages us to find applications for research and to share our expertise with the community. Our criminologists work with law enforcement officials. Our education faculty help teachers enhance elementary and secondary classroom performance. And faculty throughout UMSL work with industry to improve processes and create new products to further economic development. We’re fully engaged in shaping the “knowledge” economy that continues to transform the way we all live and work. Knowledge Workers. Management guru Peter Drucker popularized the concept of the “knowledge worker” in the 1960s, noting that employees were becoming more valued for their ideas, knowledge and information than their manual efforts. Data has proved him correct.

Colleges at their best do not strive simply to endow students with knowledge so much as to give them the

St. Louis has a vast array of quality community colleges and universities that have long cooperated on academic

19 u winter 2007 issue