Knowledge Without Boundaries

Book excerpt: In Knowledge Without Boundaries, Mary Lindenstein Walshok reveals the untapped potential of research universities for delivering and helping to apply the critical knowledge that society needs to maintain and build economic, workforce, and civic strength. Walshok--who oversees one of the nation's most extensive successful university outreach programs--argues convincingly for research universities to assume a more central role in connecting new and existing knowledge with the array of users that depAnd on this resource in today's society.Using case studies and examples from such distinguished research universities as Johns Hopkins, the University of Chicago, and the University of California, Walshok details how institutions are creating knowledge linkages between their academic resources and constituencies as diverse as parents, social agencies, and corporations. She explores the evolution and expansion of America's depAndence on new knowledge and the importance of that knowledge as a critical resource that supports and drives virtually all social and economic progress. And she shows how to integrate the competing knowledge needs of diverse constituencies with the traditional teaching and research mission of American higher education.