Thank you very much, President Sorenson.  And I thank all of you for the very warm welcome to the great state of South Carolina.  I feel quite privileged to receive an honorary degree from such an outstanding university – and not just because I can now count myself among the Class of 2006 – at the real USC! 

I’m very pleased to be here as we honor this terrific group of young graduates.  I’d also like to acknowledge the families and friends of the graduates who are here today, as well as the members of the faculty and administration of the University of South Carolina.  You all have provided tremendous support to this class, and I know they join me in thanking you. 

As I was considering how to address you all today, I tried to think about how one might characterize your generation.  It seems that every generation eventually gets a label – the “greatest generation,” the “baby boomers,” “generation X” . . . some have even called yours the “My Space” generation.  Since I had to ask my grandson what “My Space” is, I think maybe I’ll steer clear of labeling you all. 

But, in all seriousness, one way to think about a generation’s place in time is to define the challenges and the opportunities that it faces.  Personally, I often describe myself as a product of the Sputnik generation.  Growing up in Illinois in the 1950s, I have vivid memories of standing with my parents in our backyard, trying to make out Russia’s Sputnik satellite flying overhead.  I’m sure some of your parents – or maybe your grandparents – remember that time as well. 

It was a time of fear, to be sure – fears about Russian capabilities and about America falling behind.  But it was also a time of great opportunity – opportunities to advance our scientific understanding and to put that knowledge to direct and important use for our country.  The launch of Sputnik not only started the so-called “space race,” which eventually landed an American on the moon . . . it also lead to the creation of NASA and to a massive increase in funding for the National Science Foundation.  NSF’s budget was quadrupled in one year, and this really established the agency as a powerhouse of funding for university fellowships in science and engineering.  And, in fact, it was because of one of these NSF fellowships that I was able to head to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to pursue a PhD in chemical engineering.  I entered MIT at a pivotal time in the history of our nation – and the history of our science establishment. 
 
At that time, the people and the government of this nation recognized two fundamental truths: first, that in order to maintain this country’s economic preeminence in an increasingly competitive world, we simply had to maintain our scientific and technological superiority.  And, secondly, that doing so required a substantial and sustained investment. 

The parallels to today are striking.  Our country faces tremendous challenges – to our national defense, to our energy security, to our health and well-being, and to our future economic competitiveness.  And, in all of these areas, science and technology will most certainly help us turn those challenges into opportunities. 

But today, something else is required as well: intense, strategic collaboration because the challenges we face are too complex, too urgent, and too important to be solved by any one person or any one sector.  Governments – at all levels – must partner with private industry.  Non-profit organizations, private foundations, state and local governments, civic and religious organizations all have vital roles to play.  And, to be sure, the role of our universities – and of the men and women who they graduate each year – is more fundamental and more important than perhaps ever before.

The very mission of this university recognizes that an institution like this one must look beyond the walls of its academic buildings.  It is not enough for the University of South Carolina to provide its students with the highest quality education.  Not even enough to fund and promote cutting-edge research programs.  It must also adopt a global perspective and an ethos of shared service, which its graduates must carry out into the world. 

As I see it, modern universities have a responsibility not only to their students, but also to their communities and to the world.  As the University of South Carolina certainly demonstrates, America’s universities must help us achieve our national goals.  For, although intrinsically valuable for its own sake, we expect more from the pursuit of education than new knowledge alone.  We expect innovation.  And we expect great benefits to our health, to our national defense, to our productivity and economic expansion, and to our energy security.  In short, we expect progress. 

This university is a real leader in our collective effort to solve pervasive problems.  And I’m particularly proud of your work in the energy arena.  As Energy Secretary, the things that keep me up at night are too many to count - the cost of a gallon of gas at the pump, or ensuring the reliability of our power grid on these fiercely hot summer days.  For the longer term, I also worry about reducing our dependence on foreign sources of energy, diversifying our energy supply, and increasing the energy efficiency of our homes, businesses and vehicles.  My hope is this: that we take steps now to put this country on a path to a cleaner, more secure and prosperous energy future.  And, thanks to President Bush’s leadership, we are doing that. 

One year ago, this week, the President signed the Energy Policy Act into law.  And, this year, the President has proposed two new initiatives that, together with that important law, provide a comprehensive strategy for tackling our long-term energy-related problems.  The American Competitiveness Initiative recognizes the need to substantially increase our investment in science and technology in order to ensure our future economic health and energy security.  At the core of this initiative is a major increase in federal funding for basic research in the physical sciences along with new programs to improve math and technical education. 

To complement this long-term research effort, the Advanced Energy Initiative proposes to significantly increase our national investment in alternative fuel and clean energy technologies that will fundamentally transform the way America produces and uses energy.  It includes a 22% increase in funding for clean energy technologies for next year alone.  Our goal is to identify the technologies that could have the greatest impact in the relatively near future, and then really go after them.  I’m talking about things like: developing commercially competitive cellulosic ethanol; advanced hybrid vehicle technologies; hydrogen fuel cells; solar and wind energy; and new technologies to burn coal for electricity production with near-zero emissions. 

The Federal government cannot – and should not – do this important work alone.  Real breakthroughs will only occur through vibrant partnerships with industry, universities and the non-profit sector.  And, some key examples of precisely this type of collaboration are happening right here on this campus.  The University’s Cooperative Research Center for Fuel Cells partners Federally-funded university researchers with private sector scientists to advance research in hydrogen storage materials, fuel-cell development, boron chemistry and hydrogen-battery systems.  Industry partners include Boeing, General Motors, John Deere, and – most recently – Millennium Cell.  USC scientists are also collaborating with the Department of Energy to research methods for producing hydrogen from nuclear power – an important component of our national Hydrogen Fuel Initiative – and to study new ways to separate and capture greenhouse gases like CO2.

And the University’s strategic partnerships are not limited to energy research.  Innovista, USC’s new research and innovation district, is being designed to encourage scientists from the public and private sectors to collaborate directly on biomedical and public health initiatives, as well as energy-related research.  This project epitomizes the type of partnerships that are needed for this research to thrive - between universities, private companies, city governments, and local business organizations.  The results could be revolutionary. And I hope they are.  We need these large-scale, innovative programs – not just in Columbia, South Carolina, but across the country.  And, you all will be the ones to design them, to build them, and to populate them.

So, how will your generation be defined?  Through innovation?  Through collaboration? Well, we’ll have to wait and see.  After all, you will define it, and in ways as yet unimagined.  You will develop new solutions to meet our future energy needs; you will enable advances that will keep us all safer, protect our men and women in uniform, and help us to defeat terrorism here and around the world; you will cure diseases, improve our health, and protect our environment. 

And, in so doing, you will prove what can be done when we truly collaborate - when we put aside all that might otherwise divide us and pull together to solve the world’s most pressing problems.  And I look forward to the results.  Now get to it!  

Before I wrap this up, I’d like to leave you with one quick story.  On the day that I graduated from college, I happened to be standing next to a gentleman who was back on campus for his 50th college reunion.  And I’ve always remembered what he said to me.  He said: “work hard, but save some time for fun, because before you know it, you’ll be standing where I am.” It seemed so far off to me at the time.  But as I approach the year of my own 50th college reunion, I offer you all that same advice: work hard, but save some time for fun . . . because before you know it, you’ll be standing where I am.

I thank you for the opportunity to be with you all today - for the honorary degree that you have so graciously conferred, and for the privilege to wish you the best of luck as you move on from this wonderful university. 

Congratulations and God speed.

Location:
University of South Carolina

Media contact(s):
Craig Stevens, (202) 586-5806