The Sciences
Fueling innovation in science and technology
During the past sixty years, America’s prosperity and the health of its citizens have increasingly come to depend on its leadership in generating new advances in scientific knowledge and translating them into new products, new services, and entire new industries. And during this same period, America’s universities have been the principal worldwide source of new scientific discoveries. Because of the social and economic importance of science and technology, the global reputation of leading universities has come to depend heavily on the quality of their scientific research.
Creating a springboard for discovery
To ensure that Yale will continue to rank among the world’s greatest universities, we committed at the turn of the millennium to a $1 billion investment in new and renovated science facilities. We have since built the Class of 1954 Environmental Science Center, the Class of 1954 Chemistry Research Building, the Daniel L. Malone Engineering Center, and the Anlyan Center for Biomedical Research, and we have used these splendid new facilities to attract superb new scientists and engineers to our faculty. But we have much still to accomplish to guarantee the success of this initiative. We will soon begin construction of a new biological science facility on Science Hill, and soon thereafter Sterling Chemistry will be converted from a research lab to a center for undergraduate science teaching and learning. And the Peabody Museum will be renovated. The School of Medicine will build at least two, possibly three, new research buildings, and to translate the fruits of scientific research into longer and more productive lives, we are building, jointly with Yale–New Haven Hospital, a new cancer hospital that will draw upon best practices developed at Yale and elsewhere to become one of the nation’s premier sites for the care of cancer patients.
Targeting emerging fields
One of the strategies we are employing to ratchet up the quality of science and engineering at Yale is to build critical mass in emerging areas of research. Hence, we are seeking support for major initiatives in genomics and proteomics, human genetics, computational biology, biomedical engineering, nanotechnology, and quantum computing. In each of these areas, we have outstanding faculty who rank among the world’s leaders. We are also seeking support for crucial areas of biomedical research, such as cancer, neurological disorders, and cardiovascular disease.
