As a research university, NYU must have science programs of distinction as it moves into the 21st Century. Now is the time to invest in science at NYU. The society in which we live—our society, our culture—will be defined by achievements in science. Think of the revolutionary achievements in the 20th Century alone
- The transportation revolution of the first half of the 20th Century—trains, planes, and automobiles.
- The revolution in medicine during the second half of the 20th Century—antibiotics and new surgical and diagnostic procedures such as MRIs and cat scans.
- The information revolution of the 20th Century—from radio to television to cable.
These technological advances have completely changed our lives. During our lifetimes:
- typewriters have been replaced by powerful word processors;
- phonographs and records have been replaced by CDs and DVDs;
- long bank queues have been replaced by efficient ATMs; and
- surgery requiring two weeks of hospitalization has been replaced by "out patient surgery."
Indeed, science and technology define our society. Science must be an integral part of any research university in the 21st Century — whether in the US or abroad. In fact, each and every technological accomplishment (such as those listed above) is the direct consequence of earlier results in basic and fundamental research. In the future, this research will be performed more and more at research universities as government and industry leave basic research to those universities.
In the 21st Century, research universities will continue to be:
- the places at which new research results will be obtained;
- the places at which future researchers will be trained;
- the places at which others (humanists, social scientists, and legal scholars) will study the consequences for our society of these revolutionary advances in science and technology; and
- the places at which students will be exposed to science and its implications for our society.
Clearly, NYU, as first and foremost a research university, must have science programs of distinction as it moves into the 21st Century.
Throughout its history, NYU has had a strong and distinguished tradition in science. For example:
- In 1844, the telegraph was invented at NYU by Samuel Morse while he was a professor of painting and sculpture.
- In 1876, the American Chemical Society was founded at NYU, with NYU Professor John W. Draper (known for his pioneering work in photography and photochemistry) as its first president.
- Walter Reed, a graduate of NYU's School of Medicine, deduced that yellow fever was transmitted by mosquitoes and that typhoid fever was spread by flies which had come into contact with impure drinking water.
- Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin, who developed the vaccine that overcame the terror of polio, were graduates of our medical school.
- The first university main-frame computer, "the Univac 1," was placed by the Atomic Energy Commission at NYU in 1953, in what was later to be known as the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences (CIMS).
- From the 1960's through the 1980's, aircraft wing design was altered forever by the theoretical and computational work of Cathleen Morawetz, Paul Garabedian, Anthony Jameson, and Marsha Berger—all professors at CIMS.
- The anti-inflammatory drug "Remicade" was developed at NYU's School of Medicine as a product of the fundamental research program of Professor Jan Vilcek of the Department of Microbiology. This drug is used for treating rheumatoid arthritis, and many other diseases.
Indeed, NYU has a rich tradition and history in science. However, modern science is very expensive — both in dollars and in space. In the recent past, NYU's investments in science have not been sufficient for it to remain as competitive with its peer institutions as our aspirations demand. With our new investment plan, we can build upon NYU's strength in the sciences.
The following four general principles have been used to set NYU's strategies for the development of Science at the Square:
- First, the Life Sciences should be emphasized in the first part of the 21st Century.
- Second, Computational Science should be emphasized at NYU—because of its rapidly evolving central role throughout all of the sciences, and because we have world class expertise in computational science at CIMS.
- Third, the core science departments (Biology, Neural Science, Chemistry, Physics, Computer Science, Mathematics, and Psychology) must be developed.
- Finally, where ever possible, NYU should encourage interactions between life science at the Square, computational science at CIMS, and medical science at the Dental and Medical Schools.
Following these four general principles, we have decided to:
- expand our science faculty at the Square by 20%-40 faculty lines;
- develop new science space beginning immediately with life sciences space in the Brown Building, and other space at the Square, renovating space for condensed matter physics and for computational science, and then, in "Stage II," identifying major additional space for science; and
- begin new University-wide "signature initiatives" in (i) comparative functional genomics and bioinformatics, and (ii) computation in science and society, including computational learning.
Some of these plans are already funded. Others will be funded through the "Partners Initiative." Still others will require further philanthropy attached to our new capital campaign.