Year in Review

Message from Vice President Rick Shangraw

Arizona State University is a massive enterprise that is advancing in every way. In the past decade, ASU’s student enrollment has grown by 30% to more than 64,000 students enrolled across four unique campuses in the metropolitan Phoenix area — and, we are poised to serve upwards of 92,000 students in the next 15 years. In the realm of research and creative activity, ASU is growing dynamically as well. I took the reins as Vice President for Research and Economic Affairs in July 2007 and I’m committed to continue the superb work that has led the University’s research operation to its current level of excellence. At the close of the 2007 fiscal year, ASU reported a record high mark of $218 million in total research expenditures. That ranks us in the top tier of American universities doing research without the benefit of an affiliated medical or agricultural school.

ASU’s unprecedented growth can be measured in more than dollars and enrollment numbers. Our success is the result of many factors. One is the dedicated scholarship of faculty members, new and old. While ASU is attracting some of the world’s best young scientists and scholars, we are already home to many talented faculty members who have built their academic careers here.

Another critical piece of ASU’s achievements are the contributions we have made to Arizona’s economy. Our Office of Economic Affairs has fostered relationships with multi-national corporations such as Google, Motorola, Bank of America, and Dial. Many strategic partnerships with innovative entrepreneurial firms from China, Turkey, Japan, India, Mexico and Canada have been secured and these firms will have a strong presence at SkySong, the ASU Scottsdale Innovation Center and will further expand the entrepreneurial energy found at ASU.

On the pages ahead, you’ll see just a glimpse of the significant strides ASU is making with its interdisciplinary use-inspired research – research that spans the globe and the universe. From innovative energy sources to sustainable parking lots to what we can learn about our social systems from bees – ASU is creating outcomes that are bringing dramatic change to our quality of life and how we live and work.

All of this superb effort is part of ASU’s maturation process as an institution of higher learning. We are poised to move into an elite tier of American research universities and I am inspired to be part of this opportune time of explosive growth at ASU.