Public University Association Launches Energy Initiative, Forms Advisory Committee
The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU, formerly the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges) has launched a new initiative to maximize and advance the contributions of public research universities to the energy independence effort.
Energy independence is one of the key items on the national agenda and America’s public and land-grant universities are a critical resource to achieving this goal,” said APLU President Peter McPherson in announcing a 15-person Energy Initiative Advisory Committee, co-chaired by E. Gordon Gee, president of The Ohio State University, and Elsa A. Murano, president of Texas A&M University. The Committee will provide leadership and advice to the initiative.
“We have in this country, and in our institutions of higher education, an innovation imperative,” said Gee. “We must solve the enormous challenge of energy independence by coalescing our vast human talent, creativity, and innovation. This century’s Sputnik moment awaits our solution.”
“Public research universities have important contributions to make in addressing our need for energy independence,” Murano said. “All sectors of society need to pull together as part of the solution, and our universities are uniquely positioned to help. We want to be clear about the capabilities offered by our member-institutions and explain these strengths to decision makers in Washington.”
The 15-member advisory committee includes public university presidents and chancellors from across the country.
The initiative follows the release by the National 25x’25 Steering Committee last year of the a white paper, Research and Education Priorities in Agriculture, Forestry and Energy to Achieve the 25x’25 Renewable Energy Vision, which posits that a significant role can be played by universities in research, in extension education and in educating professionals if the United States is to achieve a 25x’25 renewable energy future. The paper was published in the NACTA Journal, a quarterly publication of the North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture.
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