Remarks and Speeches
» back to Remarks and Speeches
BusinessWest Difference Makers Dinner
-
March 25, 2010
I’m honored to accept this recognition on behalf of the faculty and staff of the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
I’d also like to salute the others being honored here tonight. It’s a very accomplished group, and I’m proud and humbled that UMass Amherst is a part of it.
At UMass Amherst, we take our responsibilities to the city of Springfield and to all of Western Massachusetts seriously. We were founded in 1863 as a land-grant university, which means we have an obligation to the entire Commonwealth and its citizens. But our location in the western part of the state gives us a special responsibility to the cities and towns that are in our immediate vicinity.
UMass Amherst has been recognized for its community involvement in efforts such as our Community Service Learning program. Recently, the Carnegie Foundation named our campus a “Community-Engaged University” under a rigorous classification process developed to document community engagement in the college curriculum, as well as in external outreach and partnerships. And, for the fourth consecutive year, UMass Amherst has been included on the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. Consistently we have therefore been recognized for our commitment to volunteering, service learning, and civic engagement.
Our faculty research brings state, federal, and private funds to our community. Last year our campus attracted $137 million in research dollars. We had a record number of 60 invention disclosures last year. These activities support the economic development of the region and enrich it through employment opportunities, inventions and discoveries, and the possibility of spin-off firms locating in Western Massachusetts.
We want UMass Amherst to be a leader in stimulating the transfer of this research knowledge from our campus to the small and medium-sized businesses that are the backbone of our region’s economy.
An essential person for our efforts, especially in the UMass/Springfield partnership, is John Mullin, whose outstanding contribution and efforts I’d like to acknowledge this evening. John is the dean of our graduate school and a highly respected regional planner. He is the person who takes ideas and makes them happen.
We have been working closely with Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno and his administration. Recently Mayor Sarno and I attended an event downtown to kick-off the renovations for a new UMass Design Center. I can tell you he swings a mean sledgehammer. That center is just one element of the Greater Springfield-UMass Amherst partnership. Our partnership, formalized in an MOU when Mayor Sarno and I were both relatively new in office, has already been very fruitful. I’d like to thank the mayor for his support and I look forward to continuing our collaboration in the future.
In addition to Dean Mullin and Mayor Sarno, there are many individuals on campus and in the community who have been essential in promoting a greater connection between UMass and Western Massachusetts. These individuals are the real difference makers—I am merely a stand-in for their efforts—and I am confident that they will continue to make a difference for the university and the region in years to come.
Looking backward for a moment, when we went to the new Museum of Springfield History to announce an alliance between UMass Amherst and local precision manufacturers, I saw many exhibits of the region’s innovations – everything from planes, games, and automobiles, to state-of-the-art tools, ice skates, and shampoo. My expectation is that 100 years in the future the museum will have a new wing highlighting twenty-first century innovations nurtured here in Western Massachusetts. I predict there will be a clean energy exhibit and a life sciences exhibit. As for the other wonders in that twenty-first century wing, it will be fascinating to see what unfolds.
At UMass Amherst, we will continue to educate “Difference Makers” who make a positive impact on Western Massachusetts and beyond. There will be greater community outreach and more collaborative programs as the economy improves. Our goal is to elevate UMass Amherst to the top tier of national research universities and for our region and its residents to benefit from our enhanced status.
On behalf of everyone who made a difference, thank you again for this recognition.
