Great universities seek to understand the past, engage the present, and shape the future, said Dr. Charles M. Vest, president of the Washington-based National Academy of Engineering and president emeritus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, during a speech at a symposium to celebrate the establishment of the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).

“Universities that have a strong focus on science and technology have a particular responsibility to engage the present and shape the future, but they too must understand the past and learn its lessons. They must do so in order to clearly understand that they are at the core of the flow of human history and essential to human progress,” he said.

“I foresee that later in this century we will look back on this day as a seminal moment in the history of higher education, and that we will salute the wisdom of those who conceived, implemented, and sustained the founding vision of KAUST.”

He said the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) that he served for 17 years was established in 1865. “It was founded as a new and different kind of institution to serve the purposes of the emerging Industrial Age in the United States. Also about the same time, President Abraham Lincoln and the United States Congress chartered the National Academy of Sciences, which subsequently evolved into the National Academy of Engineering in 1964 in recognition of the centrality of engineering to the Age of Technology.

“Today, KAUST has been founded in order to be a different kind of institution to serve the purposes of the emerging Knowledge Age in Saudi Arabia, and indeed throughout our interconnected and interdependent world. This is a noble and farsighted undertaking,” said Vest.

He, however, reminded everybody that it was also a voyage into the unknown. “KAUST has set its compass by consulting widely and learning lessons from the experiences of great research universities throughout the world. But the founders of KAUST also understand the value of a fresh start, the uniqueness of its location, the necessity of its engagement with the world community, and its orientation toward the future.”

Research universities, he said, created opportunity. “They create opportunity for individual students by inspiring them, educating them, orienting them toward the future, teaching them that they are responsible for their own lives, and preparing them to advance the human condition.”

Research universities, he said, also created opportunities for industries, cities, nations and regions by preparing educated citizens and by direct application of the new knowledge, new understandings and new technologies that flow from their research and scholarship.

“Research universities create opportunity for our earth and all its people because knowledge and understanding pave the path to peace, and because scientific knowledge and engineering capabilities are essential for meeting the great global challenges of energy, water, environmental sustainability, food, health, and security.”

According to Vest, science can flourish only in an open environment. “Science languishes in a closed environment. The free flow of people and ideas across institutional and political boundaries is essential to the functioning of a great university. The very process of conducting science requires that others challenge one’s hypotheses, independently verify the results of experiments and validate theoretical conclusions. Science cannot achieve in isolation.”

Vest then went on to make highly important and vital statements relating to education and how it could flourish. “Interaction among scholars, scientists and engineers who have diverse perspectives and varied experiences lead to creativity and innovation. Such interchange is the very essence of a research university. Maintaining an intellectually open environment requires a high degree of institutional autonomy and protection from political or ideological forces.”

Vest was widely applauded by the young Saudis in the audience when he said it was essential to give great freedom to young faculty members to study and teach what they believe is important. “They should not function as research assistants to senior professors. The wisdom and perspective of senior scholars is important, but most dramatic new insights and innovations come from brilliant young men and women. The freshness that comes from young faculty and from the continual flow of students to the institution is the key to a great research university.”

He suggested that a pivotal lesson from 20th century research universities was that competition - competition among universities to attract and retain the best faculty and students, and competition among professors and research groups in the free marketplace of ideas — engendered excellence. “However, it is a paradox of this age that we must all cooperate as well as compete,” said Vest.

In his view, KAUST has proposed a rather unique model to meet its challenge of developing competitive forces for its research and advanced education through its academic excellence alliances, research collaborations, special research centers, Discovery Scholarships, and the King Abdullah Professorships and Scholar Awards. “These programs — carefully, thoughtfully and patiently administered — will build a globally competitive university, and simultaneously will embed KAUST in fruitful international collaborations,” he added.

Saudi academic Dr. Mona Hamoud Al-Sheikh wondered how other universities could cope with the exodus of their faculty to the new university. “What will be the effect on other universities in the area when the cream of Saudi universities migrates to KAUST?” she asked.

“Excellence,” Vest pointed out, “begets excellence.” He used the example of Harvard University in Boston, an institution that is 300 years old and is one of the most heavily endowed universities in the world. Nonetheless, he observed, Harvard had not prevented the development of other universities and educational institutions. The city also boasts, among other prestigious educational institutions, MIT, Tufts University, the University of Massachusetts and Boston University.

Vest’s implication was clear: Why something similar should not happen as a result of establishing KAUST?

As the writer and historian, Robert Lacey, attests, that indeed will happen eventually. “KAUST will undoubtedly improve the level at which scientific research is conducted in this country. Saudi researchers will have the unparalleled opportunity to work alongside and to learn from some of the finest scientists in the world.”