“The thing that really impressed me when I came to MIT and continues to amaze me every day is how amazing everything is happening here. The science, the engineering… every day I hear something that makes my jaw drop,” President Sally Kornbluth commented during a live discussion with Lizzie O’Leary slate’“What’s Next: TBD” Podcast.
Kornbluth talked about everything from the importance of curiosity-driven science to why basic science is important to our country’s future, to AI and education, and even bravely joined O’Leary in a rendition of the Williams College song, “The Mountains,” in honor of their shared alma mater.
“We are in this time of incredible uncertainty,” Kornbluth said of the current state of funding for higher education and scientific research. “What we’re trying to do is keep the science strong.”
It’s a combination of zone coverage and man-to-man defense, he said while trying to address skepticism about higher education in Washington, D.C., while reminiscing about his time at Duke and his love of college basketball. He emphasized: “As one of the world’s top institutions it is part of our responsibility to articulate the importance of science. Behind the scenes, I – along with many others [university] Chairman- I am in DC all the time now. I want to talk to congressmen and women, senators, people in the executive branch to explain the importance of what we’re doing.
Kornbluth emphasized that the basic science pipeline coming from American universities is a vital asset to our country, cautioning that continuing pressure on this pipeline could have huge negative impacts on the United States in the future.
“If you think about the research done in this country, it’s done in universities, it’s done in national laboratories, and it’s done in industry,” Kornbluth said. Universities are where much of the science that requires patience along the long road to impact begins. He pointed to immunotherapy for cancer as an example, which began 30-40 years ago in basic immunotherapy research. With that pipeline finished, what does the future hold for new cancer therapies or new AI and quantum technologies?
Kornbluth also underlined that the uncertainty and lost funding are having a “huge impact on the talent pipeline”, highlighting the unique role universities play in training graduate students, who are the next generation of scientific researchers. “We hear, ‘Oh it would be fine if there was more research in industry.’ I say, ‘Would you fly in a plane with a pilot who has never flown?’ How do they think people learn to do research? “We’re training the next generation … and we’re losing money for them.” He added, “I think if we don’t fix that issue, we’re going to see the effects of it for decades.”
When asked how he and his colleagues are working to advance research, Kornbluth explained that at MIT, “We’ve tried to find alternative ways to elevate science. We have a series of presidential initiatives that cut across the campus into things like health and life sciences, quantum, humanities, and social sciences. The notion is that we’re trying to create new opportunities.”
Still, he acknowledged that the loss from the endowment tax and the reduction in federal funding is tragic. “There are only four schools right now that are subject to the 8% endowment tax, which is a tax on our earnings. For us, that means $240 million dollars a year in grants and other losses. So, let’s say the whole thing is, we’ve budgeted a $300 million loss a year on a $1.7 billion budget… It’s certainly had an impact on us. There’s no question about it.
“The other thing about it is, again, there’s all this uncertainty. Our investigators are writing a ton of grants. They don’t know if they’re going into a void or whether they’re actually going to have the kind of competitive opportunities that they’ve always had in the past.”
Asked why universities didn’t see this moment coming, Kornbluth offered some thoughts. “Look at MIT – 30,000 companies have come from MIT. When you see something like that, why would you think that any government that wants economic prosperity in its country will come after MIT?” He reflected. “This would never have happened to us.”
Turning to the rapid advances in AI, and how this area is impacting education, Kornbluth said that at MIT and other universities, “We have to focus on the human element, we have to educate our students, they have to know how to write and do math… They have to see AI as a tool to enhance their abilities. That’s how we’re thinking about it.”
During the conversation, Kornbluth also expressed his unwavering support for international students, noting that most want the opportunity to live and contribute to research in the US after graduation. “The talent we bring to us through our international community is incredible. We can attract the best in the world. You can bet that when they talk about competing with China, for example, in AI, quantum, etc., they’re not sitting in China saying, ‘Oh, it’s great that the US is taking all our students.’ They’re thinking, ‘It’s great that America doesn’t want to take so many of our students now because we can train them.’ “It’s a competitive issue that we really need to pay attention to.”
