The following is an excerpt from the Franklin College Lecture:

I have the great fortune to lead the most comprehensive university in the University of California system. Across campuses ranging from Lake Tahoe on the Nevada border to Bodega Bay on the Pacific coast, UC Davis teaches 40,000 students and reaches the globe with an impact on education and research.

Today, uplifting students from all backgrounds is still the most rewarding part of my job. As leaders in higher education, we have the responsibility — and incredible opportunity — to build generational wealth, improved health, and transformative research.

I share my story because it speaks both to the power of American higher education to create opportunities. It demonstrates the vitality of a system that encourages students from every background to reach their dreams.

For generations, my story was the story of American higher education — providing opportunities for students with the drive to succeed a place where they could unlock their potential and serve the common good.

We forged a national compact — colleges, industry, and government — a partnership that powered our innovation, fueled our economy, and expanded opportunity.

That compact delivered. 

We built an economy that was the envy of the world. 

We lifted millions out of poverty. 

We pioneered innovations that built a healthier, more sustainable planet.

That compact — a promise between government and the people it serves — was the ultimate virtuous cycle. Government investment in higher education provided opportunities for tens of millions of students. 

Those students became the dreamers and leaders who built our national security and economy, strengthened our communities, and unlocked innovations. 

They laid the foundation for the next generation’s success, and the cycle of personal opportunity and national success spun forward.

And despite what you may have heard, let me assure you of this fundamental truth: the narrative of our colleges as engines of personal growth and national strength is not a relic of the past.

It is a living, breathing reality for millions of students today.

And it is worth fighting for.

Just as higher education was the primary driver of personal growth and national competitiveness for decades, it must remain at the heart of our national strategy.

As we all realize, today the national perception of that story is changing — and the value of that partnership is under threat.

We must fight for its future, for the sake of the students we serve today and the generations of students to come. 

We must show policymakers and the public how our research touches the lives of every person in our country and across the world. We must remind them that when colleges meet their mission, they empower students to reach for the impossible and achieve it.

We must remind them that American higher education is the foundation of our national strength.

The challenges are real. A perfect storm of decreased public perception about higher ed, ongoing uncertainty about the federal government’s role, and uncertainty about the economy of the future is rocking higher education like never before.

We’re still trying to understand and evaluate the impact of executive actions in Washington on our teaching, research, and campus life in Davis, Georgia and beyond.

We have significant work to do. We must rebuild those relations, reestablish trust, and reposition universities as the place to be to prepare for the economy of the future.

It seems daunting. The headwinds are blowing from every direction. But history tells us that headwinds don’t stop us. They make us stronger.

I remain an optimist. When we tell the true story of the power of higher education, we can overcome these challenges and ensure that it continues to empower.

As we move from the retrospective to a look forward to the future, I want to focus on four challenges we must face together: 

1) explaining the value of higher education, 
2) better connecting our institutions to career opportunities, 
3) strengthening our partnerships, and 
4) remaining true to our principles in this moment.

First, we must forcefully present the value of higher education to policymakers, parents, and students.

The truth is simple: a college degree from an American university is the greatest driver of success in the world.

With almost half of jobs expected to be disrupted in the next few years due to technological advances and economic changes, succeeding in college and being equipped with the skills for many jobs will become even more critical.

A college degree builds a foundation for lifelong employability and career flexibility in an evolving economy. It is a social mobility elevator — one that lifts not just individuals but entire families and communities.

We must communicate that message directly to families who are bombarded with stories about debt and the idea that work no longer demands a degree.

With national student loan debt exceeding $1.7 trillion, this significant concern cannot be ignored. No young person should be burdened early and struggle to repay loans for decades.

However, the burden is often significantly less for students at public universities. In fact, 40% of public university graduates have no debt, and those who do average less than $7,000 per year of attendance. 

And the investment pays for itself. A 2025 New York Federal Reserve report found that the typical college graduate earns roughly $80,000 annually. That’s over $40,000 more annually than someone with just a high school diploma.

University leaders must directly address the concerns of the students and families who depend on us. We need to share the economic impact of a degree. Many students feel anxious about their career paths during these uncertain days.

We must continue to advocate for federal funding support and the undeniable value of a college degree for students. 

One caveat is worth mentioning. In defending the value of higher education, we cannot become so focused on its economic value that we lose sight of its power to develop creative thought and empathy.

Universities must continue to develop well-rounded thinkers. Investing in the humanities ensures that our diverse student populations develop the skills needed to thrive in the innovation economy and engage in the nuanced, complex thinking we’ll need to imagine a brighter, more collaborative future together. 

Exposure to the humanities — whether in a literature class or visiting a campus museum — empowers all students to develop novel thinking, consider unconventional approaches, and step away from linear thinking to breakthroughs.

It's little wonder that Steve Jobs once said the best engineers working on the first Macintosh computer were poets and musicians, or that Nobel laureates in science are 50% more likely to be artists than the average scientist.

Blending the power of creative and technical minds powers innovative thinking and shapes our capacity to respond with empathy and understanding.

Universities must continue to share the story of this complete experience.

A related, critical challenge we face is to show that the value of higher education extends beyond individuals to the communities and world we serve.

The value of the research produced at American universities is unmatched — and we must share the story of its impact and the damage that will be done if that investment is cut. 

Even as the share of the federal government’s investment in university science and research has declined over decades, there are those who argue it must be cut further. We must counter the narrative that university research is wasteful and impractical.

The truth is that investment in American scientific research is the cornerstone of our national health and economy.

I’ll share just a few statistics highlighting that impact:

Research shows that 99% of new drugs approved by the FDA in the last decade relied on federal funding.

Federal funding for science accounts for a quarter of American economic growth and 2.1 million American jobs, and this doesn’t even account for the millions more indirectly created by these investments.

In fact, government investment in scientific research at American universities generates returns of 210%. 

Cuts to university research threaten ongoing economic and physical health and undermine current work to improve lives.

Federal government cuts halted research projects that deliver vital new knowledge, including studies of aging, addiction, obesity, maternal and fetal health and Alzheimer’s disease. 

This work touches every American, and every American will lose out if this work is stalled or ended.

I want to share one story about research at UC Davis to demonstrate why we must continue to support long-term investment in basic research.

Our researchers recently developed a brain-computer interface that returned the ability to communicate to a man who had lost the power of speech because of ALS. The breakthrough technology decodes real-time brain signals into the patient’s own voice.

Watching the video of this patient speaking again is a testament not only to the power of our innovation but also to the profound impact that research has on the lives of people across the world.

The research is a medical marvel, one that offers long-term hope for the thousands of patients who develop ALS in the United States every year. It further shows tremendous promise for the billions of people who develop a neurological disorder every year.

Think about what it means for patients to be able to communicate again with their families, return to the work they love, and feel connected to their communities. In an instant, that research restored hope to one patient and unlocked hope for patients everywhere.

What is the value of that hope? What is the worth of restoring a person's voice after years of silence?

It’s important to know that the outcome was anything but instantaneous. It was the product of generations of publicly funded university basic research. Only sustained national commitment and the drive of researchers across the country could achieve this vision.

They built on the work of UCLA researchers, who invented the concept of a brain-computer interface in the early 1970s. That research sparked a revolution that extended to UC San Francisco, where researchers uncovered how regions of the brain produce and process speech. Researchers at Stanford and Brown pushed the work forward.

The NSF funded each of these teams, and each shared its advances with other labs worldwide.

That’s the power of federally funded research. By giving teams the time and freedom to explore unconventional strategies, we unlock possibilities that purely commercial ventures cannot afford to pursue.

This journey illustrates the power of federally funded research. Every step of this progress relied on grant funding, and every outcome advanced the common good.

Because universities across the country share their findings and iterate on the research, cuts to even a single institution ripple nationwide, undermining advances in research that bring lab work to patients’ lives.

Only continued, long-term investment will ensure more patients experience these life-changing breakthroughs and treatments.

Of course, the power of research at universities extends far beyond this example.

Almost every aspect of our lives today is touched by basic research that has endured for generations. The pinpoint accuracy of the GPS systems in our phones found its origin in Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity, an abstract idea with no practical application in mind at the time.

University research developed the semiconductors that power our cars, the computers that enable our work and unleash our creativity, and the biotechnology solutions that are unlocking cures for diseases that have endured as long as humans have existed.

As we advocate for the research at our universities, we must tell these stories. It’s not enough to share groundbreaking applied study; we must share the story about the power of inquiry and exploration to unlock solutions far in the future.

Collectively, we must explore better ways to reach audiences about how the research conducted by higher education connects to a thriving economy, healthier communities and a better understanding of the world.

At UC Davis, we launched a successful video and web series called “From Labs to Lives.” It spotlights a wide range of UC Davis researchers who share their work and address why federal funding is crucial for making discoveries.

I believe we all must raise our voices to speak up for continued national investment in sustained, publicly supported research. We must ensure that innovations and solutions to global challenges flourish so that each of us can enjoy a healthier, happier and more rewarding life.

The next critical challenge we face is to better connect the college experience to student employment.

When I came to UC Davis, one of my priorities was the goal that every student would walk across the commencement stage with a job offer or graduate degree placement in hand.

A recent Pew Survey study shows that only a quarter of Americans think a bachelor’s degree is important to getting a high-paying job.

Despite the increased chorus of naysayers, earning a college degree is crucial for economic success. Over a career, a college degree will net the average student over a million dollars in additional income.

It will give them the flexibility to pursue multiple fields and prepare them to adapt to technological change, such as the emergence of publicly accessible artificial intelligence and increased globalization.

But we need to tell that story — and make those connections stronger.

At UC Davis, through our Global Education for All program, we strive to provide every undergraduate with hands-on learning opportunities through internships, externships, or study abroad programs.

Our students are also increasingly interested in becoming entrepreneurs. This entrepreneurial spirit reflects a powerful national trend among young people, who increasingly envision their futures as business creators.

A recent survey illuminated this trend, finding that 75% of Gen Z want to start their own business someday. They see entrepreneurship as a career path for self-expression, creativity and social change.

At UC Davis, we’re building on this and extending our work outside the classroom. We’re empowering our students to become innovators, problem-solvers and agents of change. We reach thousands of students every year through our entrepreneurial programs, such as the Student Startup Center and Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

They learn how to take products from concept to manufacturing, from idea to market. By offering classes like “Launching a Company” and connecting students directly with investors and other researchers, we’re helping them bridge the gap between academic knowledge and career readiness.

We’re also doing it at our most recent development on campus. At our Aggie Square innovation district in Sacramento, students are taking classes right next to private sector researchers and investors.

Imagine the power of students attending classes, transferring those basic research concepts to labs, and pitching ideas to investors — all in a site built from the ground up to encourage spontaneous interaction.

We must also do all we can to prepare the next generation of scholars for a global workforce, encouraging hands-on experiences and mentoring them along the way. And we must show them that path.

A third challenge is that we must seize this moment to expand our partnerships across institutions and disciplines.

The most pressing trials we face — pandemics, climate change, and building equitable access to resources, to name just a few — are global challenges. And we need global thinkers to solve them.

Global cooperation has never been more critical. In the past few turbulent years, we've all learned many lessons, but one of the most important is that the future is global.

The days of siloed teams bound by office walls and national borders simply won’t succeed anymore. The most effective teams will cross borders and bridge cultures as they work to build solutions for the challenges facing humanity.

I have always believed we can engineer a better tomorrow, but that can only happen when we leverage diverse perspectives and authentically consider points of view different from our own.

As we look to the future, we must remain dedicated to working alongside our partners across the US and the world to co-create solutions that are transformative and enduring, shared and inclusive.

There is great temptation in times of scarcity to retreat into our academic silos. Let us not do that.  

Let us remember that collaboration is not only the pathway to sound science and real-world impact, but it will also be the key to succeeding at this crossroads in the life of American universities.

I encourage you to look for opportunities to partner and collaborate with colleagues and institutions globally whose innovations and funding structures might offer untapped avenues of support to continue your great work.

In this difficult moment in our collective history as scholars and education leaders, we will find strength in collective action.

Finally, we must remain true to our principles.

The true test of our values is not when the path is easy, but when we forge ahead through adversity.

We know that universities thrive when they open their doors to every student with the drive to succeed. We know our campuses are enriched when we build opportunities for students from every background.

To support this ideal, we must strive to keep our campuses welcoming to students from every background.

At UC Davis, we are guided by our Principles of Community, aspirational goals crafted by the campus community 36 years ago to give voice to our culture of mutual respect and the embrace of different perspectives, backgrounds and experiences.

All viewpoints are valued on our campus. We encourage everyone to display compassion and a willingness to consider the other side during a contentious debate, including when we engage on topics we are most passionate about.

That commitment is part of what makes our culture special.

And as I share with our students, staff and faculty, I’ve always believed that, as important as speech is, it comes with a corollary opportunity to do something even more powerful: to listen.

When we embrace the power of authentically listening to lived experiences and beliefs different from our own, we enrich our lives and become better members of the communities in which we live.

Just as we must seize this moment to listen authentically to the public we serve, we must reaffirm the value of speech and listening on our campuses.

Our culture that respects our differences, cares for others and thrives on the power of discussion is, and will remain, at the heart of everything we do at UC Davis.

The future of higher education must be inclusive. It must remain a beacon of opportunity for students from every background. We must redouble our commitment to the idea that diversity does not compromise excellence; excellence depends on diversity.

We must welcome students from historically underrepresented communities, first-generation students, or students from around the world.

And we know that when we support all our students, they succeed. 

At UC Davis, we are committed to providing a full spectrum of support for our students. 

Our Basic Needs Center ensures students can access healthy, affordable meals and financial support for emergencies like car repairs or temporary rent. We’re also expanding our mental health services to meet students' needs.

Our cultural affinity centers remain vibrant spaces for students to commiserate, collaborate, and create.

That commitment to inclusion must extend to our research as well. It can only serve the entire community when it includes the perspectives of those communities.

Our experience with public health demonstrates the danger of ignoring diversity. Researchers have discovered that algorithms determining eligibility for kidney transplants, prospects for heart surgery, and diagnoses for breast cancer undermined care for millions.

During the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, blood oxygen readers compromised diagnosis for Black and Latinx patients because clinical trials had not been diverse enough.

Research that fails to consider diversity undermines our safety. Because white pedestrians were considered the norm in trials, driverless cars are almost 8% less effective at spotting people with darker skin.

Because we didn’t demand female models in crash test dummies, women drivers are still nearly 50% more likely to be seriously injured in car crashes.

Bias was baked into the designs. In engineering, health care, and almost every field of study, a lack of diversity can be a matter of life or death.

In a world where we can send a robot to Mars, we can surely create medical innovations and seat belts that serve all of us.

But just as surely as bias can be engineered into technology, we can engineer it out.

As we enter the emerging world of artificial intelligence, we are at a significant inflection point again.

At this critical moment, we have the power to build AI and other technology applications that consider diversity from the outset. We know that from healthcare to engineering, we must consider the diversity of our communities from healthcare to engineering as we develop this new technology.

The models that promise to reshape how we learn, protect our environment and create our communities must be inclusive.

We are committed to building equity in health and technology at UC Davis. Our diverse campuses are researching revolutionary technologies to benefit everyone in our state and the world. 

As I close, challenges seem daunting, but I prefer to see them as opportunities. 

Yes, American higher education is facing a new, more difficult environment. We face criticism inside our country and greater competition across the world. We face increased skepticism and expanded obligations.

But we can — and must — rise to this moment.

When I have moments of worry, I return to the lessons my parents shared all those years ago.

They instilled in me a simple, yet profound, truth: Education is not just about what you learn, but about what you do with that knowledge.

Each of us in this room knows the value of higher education. Many of us experienced firsthand its power to change the trajectory of our lives. We experience the joys and successes of the students we mentor. Every day, we see how our research gives renewed hope to millions worldwide.

We know what higher education can do. 

Together, we must share that story — one of limitless hope nurtured, potential realized, and innovation creating a sustainable, healthier, and more inclusive world achieved.

And we know what we must do. We must champion our students, our universities, and our colleagues across the country. We must work together to ensure that the next generation of American students and researchers enjoys the same opportunities we did.

Together, we can write the next chapter of higher education in America, a chapter where every student is empowered to raise their voice and make their mark on the world.