OUR continuing work with the URC

Schools set to boost economy

WSU head seeks joint effort with businesses

BY ROBIN ERB • FREE PRESS EDUCATION WRITER • February 25, 2009

Whether it's stem cell research, a new rare isotope energy facility or innovations in manufacturing, Michigan's three largest universities -- combined -- are an economic powerhouse.

But it will take collaboration among those universities, businesses, government and other higher-education institutions to transform the state's economy, Wayne State University President Jay Noren said.

Speaking to more than 200 who gathered for a Detroit Economic Club luncheon Tuesday, Noren said Michigan "stands at a crossroads unparalleled in its history."

He called on businesses to partner with the University Research Corridor, a partnership between WSU, the University of Michigan and Michigan State University.

"The decisions we make, and the actions we take now, will determine the economic and social well-being of our state for generations. But neither business, nor government, nor our public universities can do what needs to be done on their own," he said.

The three universities offer different strengths -- MSU as a land-grant university with a history as an economic driver for the state, U-M as a nationally ranked mega-university and WSU as an urban research university with opportunities for community outreach.

Further, he said, moving Michigan toward a knowledge economy doesn't mean abandoning its manufacturing base. Rather, university innovations help position those industries for the future, he said.

Though other universities offer research, the three are the only Michigan institutions classified by the Carnegie Foundation as a having very high research activity. The partnership, forged two years ago, soon will become more tangible.

In remarks after Noren's public speech, he and MSU President Lou Anna Simon said the universities are working together to name an executive director for a URC office that will soon open in Lansing.

Contact ROBIN ERB at 313-222-2708 or rerb@freepress.com.