Nicholas Dirks, former Colombia Dean of Faculty and current Chancellor of University of California at Berkeley, sat down with HuffPost Live in Davos Wednesday to talk about the role of business in the future of America's universities.
"Great public research universities in the United States have traditionally been really important centers for innovation, as well as for education," he told HuffPost Live. "But I think the crises that have emerged around higher education and public funding have really changed the landscape and, in a way, business has to step up."
Dirks said that because of waning state support for public universities, businesses' intervention may become essential if they are to continue running.
"Are we going to let our great public universities simply get weaker and weaker just because either states can't afford or don't feel the political pressure to fund them?" Dirks asked. "That is the worry."
"Great public research universities in the United States have traditionally been really important centers for innovation, as well as for education," he told HuffPost Live. "But I think the crises that have emerged around higher education and public funding have really changed the landscape and, in a way, business has to step up."
Dirks said that because of waning state support for public universities, businesses' intervention may become essential if they are to continue running.
"Are we going to let our great public universities simply get weaker and weaker just because either states can't afford or don't feel the political pressure to fund them?" Dirks asked. "That is the worry."