By many measures, the United States has ceded its position as the global leader in science in technology over the past two decades, the renowned physician-researcher Harvey Fineberg told a Yale audience this week. Meanwhile, China has made stunning strides in a range of technological fields, including energy, computing, and artificial intelligence.
Speaking to a packed room in Linsly-Chittenden Hall Thursday, Fineberg likened the U.S.’s relationship to science in the modern era to a key moment during the Cold War.
“This is a Sputnik moment,” he said, invoking the Soviet Union’s successful launch of the first artificial satellite in space 1957, a historic technological achievement that caught the American public off guard.
Just as Sputnik sparked what would come to be known as the “space race,” an era marked by dramatic American technological achievements, the U.S. can likewise catch countries like China in the modern race for technological prowess — including in artificial intelligence and clean energy — by investing in the right priorities and by tempering illusions about its own dominance, said Fineberg, a professor of health policy and management emeritus at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
But the implications are more important than simply gaining a competitive edge, Fineberg said. Investments in the best science — and the right values — will benefit all of humankind, he said.
Fineberg was on campus as part of the university’s Presidential Lecture Series. Launched last year by Yale President Maurie McInnis, the series brings leading experts to campus to share ideas and inspire critical thought on some of today’s most complex topics, particularly as they relate to higher education.
As a researcher, Fineberg has focused on several areas of health policy, including the process of policy development and implementation, the assessment of medical technology, and the dissemination of medical innovations. He previously served as president of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, president of the U.S. National Academy of Medicine, and provost of Harvard University.
In opening remarks, McInnis said universities have a chance to fundamentally change their relationship with the American people right now.
“Scientific research is a decisive way universities can tangibly benefit all of humanity and reconnect the American people with our work,” she said.
Few people have given as much thought to fulfilling that possibility as Fineberg, McInnis said, citing his explorations of how “the practical work of universities can serve the hopeful ideals of our nation.”
Yale President Maurie McInnis
During the lecture, Fineberg described some of the measures that indicate the nation’s current global standing in the sciences and technology.
According to the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), an independent think tank, the U.S. was the global leader in 60 of 64 of critical technologies in 2007, he said. Now, China leads in 57 of those technologies, a stunning reversal in just two decades.
And while it not a perfect indicator, he noted that China has now surpassed the U.S. in the number of new patents annually.
Fineberg attributes this trend to a lack of federal investment in the sciences over decades and administrations of both political parties. “Neither party, over a long period of time, has accorded science in America sufficient priority to keep us in the lead,” he said.
During the lecture, Fineberg invoked the words of James W. Frick, former vice president for public relations at Notre Dame, who famously said, “Don’t tell me where your priorities are. Show me where you spend your money, and I’ll tell you what they are.”
By 2030, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development projects that China’s research and development spending could exceed that of the U.S. by more than 30%.
But despite all this, Fineberg said, the race isn’t over. And like the American response to the Sputnik launch, what happens going forward depends on what U.S. leaders are able and willing to do.
Fineberg and McInnis
He shared a series of tactical and strategic steps that can help keep the U.S. in the race for today’s most pressing science and technology advances.
In addition to speaking up for the “champions” of science and promoting new voices, he said, the U.S. must provide long-term financial support for the sciences, define strategic priorities and “superclusters” of innovation, pursue domestic and global talent, diversify and innovate new funding sources, and re-engage the public.
“Science is so intrinsically good,” Fineberg said. “We have to make the case.”
There’s more at stake than the U.S. falling further behind in science and technology, he said. The decisions that U.S. leaders make also inform which system of core values and bedrock principles will prevail in the world.
“If the best science and the right values prevail,” he said, “humanity will benefit.”
