\n<\/p>\n
Donald Trump\u2019s defunding of scientific research and proposed new charges on migrant labor will not be enough to deter international academics from heading to America, given the country\u2019s unparalleled willingness to reward academic talent, Radenka Maric has argued.<\/p>\n
Since February 2022, Maric has served as president of the University of Connecticut, a six-campus public research university with a $3.6\u00a0billion annual operating budget.<\/p>\n
The Bosnian-born engineer is arguably one of the world\u2019s most well-traveled university leaders, having worked in seven countries in a 30-year career, including Japan (where she earned her Ph.D. at Kyoto University and worked at Toyota\u2019s material science research division), Canada (where she led the Institute for Fuel Cell Innovation at the National Research Council Canada), and Italy (where she was a visiting professor at Polytechnic University of Milan on a Fulbright scholarship).<\/p>\n
Having joined Connecticut as a professor of sustainable energy in 2010, Maric was appointed vice president for research in 2017 and took the top job five years later\u2014an achievement she believes would not have been possible in any other country.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs someone born in Bosnia without a U.S. college degree, I would never have been made a university president in Japan, Italy or even Canada,\u201d argued Maric, who studied at Belgrade University in Serbia, where she later worked as a junior scientist.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t have that traditional academic pedigree required by some countries. I didn\u2019t study at Harvard\u2014I have a \u2018Japanese Harvard\u2019 Ph.D., but who really cares about my Japanese degree\u2014nor have I been a provost or dean at a big U.S. university,\u201d she continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut American universities don\u2019t care if you studied in Italy or Serbia\u2014they are only focused on excellence in science and innovation, which means \u2018what is your h-index?,\u2019 \u2018where have you published?\u2019 and \u2018how many people have you brought with you on your journey?\u2019\u201d Maric said.<\/p>\n
Despite uncertainty over federal science funding\u2014with several national agencies facing cuts of about 50\u00a0percent to their budgets next year\u2014the academic meritocracy promised by U.S. universities will continue to appeal to international researchers, Maric believes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is what is powerful about American academia. As long as the American dream is there\u2014that people like me can make it on their own merits\u2014then America will be a magnet for talent. Crises will come and go,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The current uncertainty over funding has undoubtedly caused problems, Maric explained, while there are growing concerns over plans to charge a $100,000 fee for H-1B skilled worker visas, up from $7,000\u2014a move that would make it much more difficult for U.S. universities to employ foreign Ph.D. students or postdocs.<\/p>\n
On the likely damage of Trump\u2019s recent higher education policies, Maric said, \u201cIt depends how long this lasts, but America has a great capacity to resituate itself very quickly. If you compare how the U.S. pivoted after the 2008 financial crisis, it came back much quicker than any other nation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite her evident enthusiasm for her adopted homeland, Maric said she was also inspired by her time in Japan. \u201cThis was the 1990s and I was the only woman doing a Ph.D. at Kyoto\u2019s engineering school. I stayed for 12 years there, so it wasn\u2019t just the language that I learned but the culture. There is an immense amount of care in how everything is done, so I applied this to my career by thinking, \u2018how can I improve my skills?\u2019 or \u2018how can my research get better?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was in Japan, it was constantly stressed that there was no great science if it didn\u2019t lead to great technology. And there is no great technology without a product, and there is no product without a market,\u201d Maric explained of her approach to applied science\u2014she worked in the field of battery technology for Toyota and later Panasonic before leaving to join a start-up in Atlanta.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe most important thing about Japan is kata<\/em>\u2014a way of doing things in a particular way. There is a natural tendency to do things in a certain way and there is a desire to protect their culture, so eventually I knew I had to leave,\u201d reflected Maric on her leap from Toyota to the U.S. start-up world.<\/p>\n Recruited to lead a battery fuel research group in Vancouver, Maric eventually headed to Connecticut\u2014a state with long-established defense and manufacturing industries, in which the university now plays a crucial research role.<\/p>\n \u201cSince 2010 the state has been recruiting faculty in renewable and environmental sustainability, including CO2 capture, so I\u2019ve been part of this, but the history of manufacturing goes back to the mid-19th century when bicycle companies had their first factories in Connecticut,\u201d Maric said.<\/p>\n Her university\u2019s willingness to recruit someone with an eclectic CV\u2014including stints in corporate R&D, academia and start-ups covering three continents\u2014then promote them to the top job is a good example of why American academia will continue to thrive, despite the current challenges, Maric said.<\/p>\n \u201cI am not a traditional person, but I was always a hard worker who sought to improve myself and bring people along with me whenever I could. Not many foreigners\u2014whatever their expertise or experience\u2014will become university presidents, but it is possible in America,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Donald Trump\u2019s defunding of scientific research and proposed new charges on migrant labor will not be enough to deter international academics from heading to America, given the country\u2019s unparalleled willingness to reward academic talent, Radenka Maric has argued. Since February 2022, Maric has served as president of the University of Connecticut, a six-campus public research<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29085,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[2916,473,1140,258,254,3982],"class_list":{"0":"post-29084","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-education","8":"tag-academics","9":"tag-american","10":"tag-dream","11":"tag-foreign","12":"tag-give","13":"tag-wont"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29084","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29084"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29084\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/29085"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}