March 29, 2002

States Push Public Universities to Commercialize Research

By PETER SCHMIDT

State lawmakers are sending public research universities a clear message: It's time to begin commercializing your discoveries to promote local economic development.

As states convene their 2002 legislative sessions, the use of university research to spur economic development is in many cases at the top of their higher-education agendas. Nearly a third of the nation's governors have called on legislatures to pump