Science journals editor-in-chief shares ideas for reinvigorating public confidence in higher education during his campus visit April 17-18
Holden Thorp, Science journals editor-in-chief, is coming to address one of the most pressing problems in higher education — how to better engage as partners with a public that has shown signs it is losing trust in science and in the nation’s institutions of higher education.
According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, “Public confidence in higher education’s ability to lead America in a positive direction has sunk steeply in recent years, falling 14 percentage points just since 2020.”
Thorp’s talks at UW–Madison will include topics ranging from improving science literacy and communication with the public, to expanding opportunities for growing entrepreneurship, to fostering a healthy research environment that supports development of the next generation of scientists.
As coeditor of two books on higher education: Engines of Innovation: The Entrepreneurial University in the Twenty-First Century and Our Higher Calling: Rebuilding the Partnership Between America and its Colleges and Universities (both from UNC Press), Thorp calls on colleges and universities to support development of an educated and skilled public and to create new knowledge that will garner greater public investment in higher education.
“Holden Thorp is outspoken about connecting science with society,” explains Bassam Shakhashiri, emeritus professor of chemistry and the William T. Evjue Distinguished Chair for the Wisconsin Idea.
Shakhashiri has been instrumental in bringing Thorp to campus.
“His visit to our UW–Madison community will bolster the purposefulness of both our scholarly endeavors and our public engagement work,” Shakhashiri says. “As we live the Wisconsin Idea, we strive to ensure that the next generation of scientists is both highly skilled technically and properly educated to carry on their scientific and educational work for the common good of society.”
In addition to being an author and editor, Thorp is an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) fellow. According to his AAAS bio, Thorp became Editor-in-Chief of the Science family of journals in 2019. He came to Science from Washington University, where he was provost from 2013 to 2019 and where he is Rita Levi-Montalcini Distinguished University Professor and holds appointments in both chemistry and medicine. Thorp is serving on the national board of directors of PBS https://www.pbs.org/about/about-pbs/board-directors/.
Thorp joined Washington University after spending three decades at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), where he served as chancellor from 2008 through 2013.
A North Carolina native, Thorp earned a bachelor of science degree in chemistry and a doctorate in chemistry. He completed postdoctoral work at Yale University and holds an honorary doctor of laws degree from North Carolina Wesleyan College. In addition to being an AAS fellow, he is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Inventors.
In his research career, he studied electron-transfer reactions of nucleic acids, developed technology for electronic DNA chips, and cofounded Viamet Pharmaceuticals, which developed oteseconazole (used to reduce the risk of fungal or yeast infection), now held by Mycovia Pharmaceuticals and in phase 3 clinical trials. He is a venture partner at Hatteras Venture Partners, a consultant to Ancora, and is on the board of directors of the College Advising Corps and Artizan Biosciences.
“Thorp’s messages will resonate across campus from students to staff and faculty. UW–Madison is driven by a strong commitment to the Wisconsin Idea and we are always looking for new and diverse ways to attune our strategy and policies to meet the challenges of the day and show the public how research at UW–Madison benefits individual lives, communities and society as a whole,” says Steve Ackerman, vice chancellor for research and graduate education. “I look forward to hearing Thorp’s advice for how we can boost public trust in higher education and research and to deepen our connections with various communities.”
Campus Events:
How Science Lost America and How to Get it Back
5:30 p.m. April 17 (Monday), HF DeLuca Forum, Discovery Building and online here (bit.ly/Thorp-at-UW). Registration for the presentation is not required.
Description: The COVID-19 pandemic revealed very quickly to scientists that the public has reached a point where picking and choosing the parts of science to act on is effortless. Many scientists have been mystified as to how this happened, but historians and communications scholars have been laying out these problems for decades. COVID-19 denial, climate denial, and many other policy issues follow a pattern that stretches all the way back to the Scopes trial in the 1920s. Meanwhile, science has refused to invest in the contextualization of science in a way that would allow for processing scientific findings. These forces will be described along with some ideas about long-term solutions.
Hosted by the Wisconsin Initiative for Science Literacy, the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research & Graduate Education, the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, and the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery.
A flyer is available for printing and posting in your department.
9-10 a.m. April 18 (Tuesday), Orchard View Room, Discovery Building (room is accessible via the elevator behind Aldo’s Cafe).
This session is a unique opportunity for all UW–Madison postdocs and graduate students to meet Thorp and have their questions answered on a wide range of topics including science advocacy and communication, scientific publishing, entrepreneurship, and university leadership. Register for the Q&A session here.
Hosted by the Office of Postdoctoral Studies and the Graduate School Office of Professional Development.
On Tuesday April 18, Thorp will be on Wisconsin Public Radio from 11 to 11:45 a.m., which will be webcast and recorded.
By Natasha Kassulke, natasha.kassulke@wisc.edu