12 OregonStater.org KAI CASEY ← President Murthy during this June’s Commencement procession. Follow her on X at @OregonStatePres. WHY SCIENCE MATTERS PRESIDENT JAYATHI MURTHY ON STAYING TRUE TO OREGON STATE’S MISSION IN UNCERTAIN TIMES. As told to Scholle McFarland Much like two years ago when the Pac-12 collapsed, today we’re discussing something altogether unexpected, which is the disruption of federal research funding. OSU’s strategic plan lays out the goal of doubling research expenditures over the next five years. Do you still think that’s going to be possible in the new climate we find ourselves in? We’re focused on continuing to deliver on our mission. We’re focused on OSU being a place where big ideas lead to big solutions. There is, of course, a lot of uncertainty in the federal research funding landscape. As we do long-term planning, we have to be prepared for instability and turbulence — we have to harden our research enterprise against this instability. This means broadening our research base, pursuing research opportunities aggressively and across the spectrum — federal, industrial, philanthropic. If we do things right, I think we will succeed. It’s June as we speak, and Congress is working to finalize a budget. What’s at stake in the large-scale cuts to research funding being discussed, and what does it mean for Oregon State? Before we talk about what that means to universities and to VO I C E S
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