The Enduring Value of University-Industry Partnerships
The Enduring Value of University-Industry Partnerships
By: Dave Ortendahl
Two hundred and fifty years ago, this nation's founders made a bet that shared purpose could outlast any single generation. This grand experiment still shapes how institutions carry out their missions today.
Partnerships between universities, industry, and communities have grown more deliberate in recent decades, and it is a space we corporate relations officers have the privilege to work in every day. In my conversations, business executives and academic leaders keep returning to this same shared purpose.
The partnerships we build aren't really about a check or a contract. They are about a student getting hands-on research experience that jump-starts their career. A faculty member who gets the resources or equipment to chase a novel idea that wouldn't otherwise get funded. A company that finds its next generation of talent connected to the problems and tools that matter to them through projects. A local economy that grows stronger when research steps out of the lab into a start-up, creating new jobs that support families in the community.
None of this happens by accident. It happens because good people keep choosing to build programs, initiatives, and institutions meant to outlast their founders and grow in the hands of future researchers, students, and leaders to better humanity- the original instinct this country was built on.
I'm grateful to have the opportunity to keep working in this vibrant university-industry collaboration space with you all, and I'm continually inspired by the students, faculty, businesses, and universities who see beyond the "now" into the "what could be."
Happy 4th of July week, dear NACRO community. I look forward to seeing you at conference soon!
Dave Ortendahl, EdD, is Past President of NACRO and Senior Executive Director of Corporate Relations with the UMass Amherst Foundation.