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Getting smarter

Want to lift the state economy? Ohio pointed toward just that goal| with its grants under the new Research Scholars Program|

Published on Thursday, May 22, 2008

Luis Proenza often makes a persuasive case for investing in smart people. The University of Akron president has in mind bringing top researchers to the leading campuses across the state. Those researchers attract their own contingent of scholars and investment dollars, their work rippling through the region, creating companies and jobs. This is the value of centers of excellence, of universities serving as economic engines for local economies.

Proenza didn't invent this concept. He has seen the approach work elsewhere. On Tuesday, Ohio moved significantly in this promising direction. Lee Fisher, the lieutenant governor and chairman of the Ohio Third Frontier Commission, and Eric Fingerhut, the chancellor of the University System of Ohio, announced more than $143 million in grants through the Ohio Research Scholars Program.

The state intends to recruit smart people.

The focus is sound, and so is the process, schools bidding competitively. The dollars will be targeted at established areas of strength. That explains the $14.4 million directed to Kent State University and Case Western Reserve University to set up a research cluster driven by liquid crystals. Kent State will get two endowed research positions. Case will get one.

Toledo has been recognized as a national leader in the development of solar energy. The state will route $8 million to the University of Toledo, in partnership with Bowling Green State University, to raise the level of this promising research. Ohio State University, the University of Akron and the University of Dayton will receive $18 million to enhance the research surrounding materials development.

The awards included an emerging proposal in Akron, the university, the three hospitals in the city and the Northeastern Ohio Universities Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy looking to establish an orthopedic research center. The state recognized the opportunity with its $8.6 million grant and two endowed faculty positions. It also rightly made the money contingent on three key objectives, securing substantial investment from other sources, the university directing its own funds toward the project and the institute achieving a governance structure that will attract the scholars and research money necessary.

The purpose behind the Ohio Research Scholars Programs is ambitious, developing in the state no less than world-class centers of excellence. No one should underestimate the steep grade of the challenge in Akron. That isn't to utter discouraging words. Rather, the point is to stress how high the players must aspire, and the appropriate standard against which the state will measure success.

Many factors define a strong regional economy. Few are as important as brain power and the subsequent patents and innovations. In that way, this is an notable week for Ohio. Now the task is sustaining and building on the momentum.

Luis Proenza often makes a persuasive case for investing in smart people. The University of Akron president has in mind bringing top researchers to the leading campuses across the state. Those researchers attract their own contingent of scholars and investment dollars, their work rippling through the region, creating companies and jobs. This is the value of centers of excellence, of universities serving as economic engines for local economies.

Get the full article here.


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