As we celebrate Women’s History Month, read as Kate Hudson, HonNAI, of the Association of American Universities, shares with us her journey in innovation as well as how universities can promote innovative and diverse solutions.Q: What was your journey into the innovation ecosystem?
A: My love for public policy and the inner workings of government brought me to my current role in the innovation ecosystem as policy counsel with AAU, representing research universities. I have always been fascinated by science and technology, and when combined with my knowledge of the federal government and experience as an advocate, I find it incredibly rewarding to be making an impact in both big and small ways in helping to craft public policies that will enable the next generation of research advancements, societal progress, and economic development.
Q: How do you feel universities can continue to promote innovative and diverse solutions?
A: In my view, universities can do to things to continue to promote innovative and diverse solutions to the grand challenges of our age:
1. Partnerships between universities and private sector have come a long way in the past 40 years, and we should celebrate that, but more work needs to be done to foster these partnerships beyond the transactional nature of licensing. I would love to see these partnerships extend to tackling large-scale workforce development issues in a myriad of fields and to new collaborative models to foster regional economic growth.
2. Research universities can continue and expand efforts to recognize inventorship and entrepreneurship in the promotion and tenure process. Minimal progress has been made, but universities need to detach from the view that entrepreneurship is “going to the dark side” and instead view these accomplishments as on par with traditional promotion and tenure metrics.
To read more about Ms. Hudson and her work, visit: https://www.aau.edu/who-we-are/leadership-staff/kate-hudson