Spring 2005
What's at Stake
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"It is essential to a research university to have excellent graduate students and postdoctoral fellows attacking problems of major importance. A great research university provides an environment that offers the best system society has developed for the creative discovery of new knowledge."

— Paul Boyer

The panel included Paul Boyer, professor emeritus of chemistry and biochemistry and recipient of the 1997 Nobel Prize for chemistry; Warren Furutani, member and former president of the Los Angeles Community College District Board of Trustees, former president of the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education and senior consultant to California Speaker of the Assembly Fabian Núñez (D-Los Angeles); Betsy Wood Knapp, entrepreneur and chair/CEO of BigPicture Investors, a company that invests in West Coast start-ups; Ian Krouse, professor of composition and chair of the Department of Music in UCLA’s School of the Arts and Architecture; Henry Samueli ’75, M.S. ’76, Ph.D. ’80, co-founder, chairman and CTO of Broadcom Corp. and a professor of electrical engineering at UCLA; and Richard S. Ziman, chairman and CEO of Arden Realty, Inc. Professor of Political Science Geoffrey Garrett, vice provost and dean of the UCLA International Institute, moderated the discussion and set the stage in his opening remarks. Among key indicators of UCLA’s excellence, he noted:

 • UCLA is ranked No. 2 in the U.S. in total research expenditures from competitively awarded contracts and grants, No. 8 in Ph.D.s awarded, No. 2 in postdoctoral fellowships awarded, No. 9 in prestigious faculty awards received and No. 19 in National Merit Scholars among entering freshmen, according to a University of Florida study of the nation’s research universities;

 • 25 departments and schools at UCLA are ranked in the top 20 nationwide, according to U.S. News & World Report;

 • According to an independent survey by the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation, UCLA generates, both directly and indirectly, more than 65,000 jobs for the region, as well as $6 billion in economic activity created by the innovation that flows from its classrooms and laboratories.

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