Drew Gilpin Faust

Patty and I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Drew Gilpin Faust for lunch today at a Harvard alum gathering in Palo Alto. Drew is the first female president of Harvard. As one would expect from the top Havardian, she is incredibly articulate. But the thing that impressed me most was her groundedness. She is not an ivory tower academic.

In an earlier blog post I lamented the tendency for many to discount people who are well educated, particularly in politics. Well with more great role models like Drew Gilpin Faust and Brack Obama, I have hope that the class of well educated people will restore its good name. Well educated people are necessary for our country's future success.

Some highlights for Drew's speech [with a bit of commentary from me]:

Despite the economic downturn, Harvard will continue to provide generous financial aid to students. If you are qualified and admitted, you do not need to worry about affording a Harvard education. [I experienced this personally as it was less expensive for me to attend Harvard in the 1980's than it was to attend my state school.]

Harvard has some unique opportunities to foster cross disciplinary research between it's many schools. Rather than separate segments, Harvard is establishing networks connecting different disciplines. The whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Drew is coalescing "one" Harvard rather than letting the multiple "flat bottomed tubs" (schools) continue somewhat independently. [I believe we have reached some practical limits in what many separate disciplines can accomplish on their own. Cross-disciplinary teams are necessary to springboard to the next level.]

Further supporting cross-disciplinarian approaches, one of the challenges we face is figuring out how to better organize our knowledge -- keeping it in separate baskets does not work so well anymore. Harvard will play an important role in translating knowledge into the wider world.

Drew and others also commented on the greening of Harvard, the importance of Global Health, how we fund science appropriately in an era of decreased federal funding, the conundrum of mental health vs prisons, and studying abroad (becoming Global Citizens).

Drew is one impressive lady. I'm very glad she is the new president of Harvard. She is a breath of fresh air. [Speaking of which, you can hear her on her Jan 9th, 2008 "Fresh Air" interview.]

Enjoy!

The George W Bush Presidential Library

I received the following in email. I tried to locate the source but could not find any reliable attribution so guess it must have been tossed into the public domain. It captures Geoge W Bush's legacy pretty accurately, unfortunately. Amusing but sad.

-----
Dear Fellow Constituent

The George W Bush Presidential Library is now in the planning stages and accepting donations. The Library will include:

• The Hurricane Katrina Room, which is still under construction.
• The Alberto Gonzales Room, where you won't be able to remember anything.
• The Texas Air National Guard Room, where you don't even have to show up.
• The Walter Reed Hospital Room, where they don't let you in.
• The Guantanamo Bay Room, where they don't let you out.
• The Weapons of Mass Destruction Room, which no one has been able to find.
• The National Debt Room, which is huge and has no ceiling.
• The Tax Cut Room, with entry only to the wealthy.
• The Economy Room, which is in the toilet.
• The Iraq War Room. (After you complete your first visit, they make you to go back for a second, third, fourth, and sometimes fifth visit.)
• The Dick Cheney Room, in the famous undisclosed location, complete with shotgun gallery.
• The Environmental Conservation Room, still empty.
• The Supreme Court Gift Shop, where you can buy an election.
• The Airport Men's Room, where you can meet some of your favorite Republican Senators.
• The Decider Room, complete with dart board, magic 8-ball, Ouija board, dice, coins, and straws.

Note: The library will feature an electron microscope to help you locate and view the President's accomplishments.

The library will also include many famous Quotes by George W. Bush:

• 'The vast majority of our imports come from outside the country.'
• 'If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure.'
• 'Republicans understand the importance of bondage between a mother and child.'
• 'No senior citizen should ever have to choose between prescription drugs and medicine.'
• 'I believe we are on an irreversible trend toward more freedom and democracy - but that could change.'
• 'One word sums up probably the responsibility of any Governor, and that one word is 'to be prepared'.'
• 'Verbosity leads to unclear, inarticulate things.'
• 'I have made good judgments in the past. I have made good judgments in the future.'
• 'The future will be better tomorrow.'
• 'We're going to have the best educated American people in the world.'
• 'One of the great things about books is sometimes there are some fantastic pictures.' (during an education photo-op)
• 'Illegitimacy is something we should talk about in terms of not having it.'
• 'We are ready for any unforeseen event that may or may not occur.'
• 'It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it.'
• 'I stand by all the misstatements that I've made.'...George W. Bush to Sam Donaldson

PLEASE GIVE GENEROUSLY!

Sincerely,
Jack Abramoff, Co-Chair G.W. Bush Library Board of Directors

Adobe Layoffs

We all have up days and down days. Yesterday was a down day for me. Although I am still with Adobe, many of my friends and co-workers were laid off. I wish the best for all the great people my company lost today. Everything cycles. I hope to work with many of them again in the future.

Change is in the Wind

It is amazing what social networking can accomplish for our world. I use LinkedIn for professional connections and Facebook for fun.

But I'm now inspired by the social networking occurring on both change.org and change.gov -- one in the nonprofit sector and the other for our US government. Both are engaging people directly to make a positive difference in our world and foster dialogs about improving our world and our government. I like this trend and have faith that it will continue to grow and blossom under Barack Obama's leadership. I hope those of you reading this will engage with both change.org and change.gov.

BTW, in my eagerness to send info about both to many friends, I inadvertantly conflated change.org and change.gov together by accident. Sorry about that. All this positive change just got me too excited!

Thanks!

Barack Obama will be a surprising Moderate

In the election race, McCain, Palin and many both from the left and the right tried to force Obama into the traditional liberal mold. However, Barack Obama is going to surprise many people who thought he was a far left leaning liberal. In reality he is a smart articulate practical moderate. At least that is what I came away with after reading his book "The Audacity of Hope".

Just look at who he has appointed as his national security team (see: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/02/us/politics/02obama.html?8au&emc=au). He took a centrist approach and picked the best qualified people from both sides. He wants to engage in dialog with other smart people, not just surround himself with those who are vulnerable to "group think." He is not afraid of differing opinions but embraces them so he can be in the best position to choose the best path, not the convenient path.

Wow, Queen Rania Really Rocks!

She is a queen, Muslim, sexy, AND articulate. Now if SHE could run for Vice President of the US, this is one lady I would vote for (in contrast to the painful Alaskan airhead who thankfully lost).

Watch Rania's videos and you'll know what I mean. Arabs, Muslims, Jews, etc, we are all real people.

For more, check out:
http://middleeast.change.org/blog/view/queen_ranias_youtube_channel_rocks

Change.gov + OpenID & Creative Commons

Obama's transition team is clearly thinking different -- and succeeding. Not only is Chagne.org supporting OpenID, it has also adopted a Creative Commons license for the content of Change.org. Creative Commons is great alternative to relying just on traditional copyright. Creative Commons helps knowledge flow more freely and benefit more people.

So far, Obama is living up to his promise of change and it is a tremendous breath fresh air.

For more, read the 12/1/2008 NY Times article Obama Puts Change.gov Under Creative Commons.