Feature
More Than Basic Science
May 3, 2007
Is there a place for right-brainers in the life sciences? Absolutely!
by Bruce Hetrick, chairman and CEO of Hetrick Communications and columnist for the Indianapolis Business Journal.
As you probably know, our alma mater [Indiana University] wants to increase its life-sciences prowess. Toward that end, IU has named its 12-year Life Sciences Initiative the university's top legislative funding priority for the next state budget session. More important, it's outlined the return on investment Indiana can expect: thousands more life-sciences jobs to help stem the brain drain; billions more research dollars to advance life-enhancing and life-saving treatments; and more technology transfer to help attract or create at least 100 new companies.
Writing in the Indiana Alumni Magazine, Assistant Vice President for Government Relations J.T. Forbes said the university will seek "a $50 million down payment" on this initiative in the next biennium, for a total request of $80 million. "IU will match the state's investment with no less than $46 million over the next two years," he said.
The life-science focus makes sense from many perspectives: The industry represents nearly 20 percent of the U.S. economy. It's only going to grow with the aging of the Baby Boomer generation. The state and the university have a strong base on which to build. And Indiana (the state) desperately needs to lessen its dependence on old-line manufacturing and expand the rolls of knowledge-driven jobs.
Now, if you're a student, alumnus, or donor heavily vested in the IU School of Medicine, it's easy to see "what's in it for me." If you're loyal to the Kelley School of Business and have any imagination, you likely can see your interests being served. And if you're on the science side of arts and sciences, it doesn't take a big leap to imagine how you might fit in.
But is there a role for us English and political science majors? Or our siblings at the IU School of Journalism? Can sociologists play? Can actors? Or poets? Or cellists? Graphic designers? Historians? Linguists? In short, can any of us who favor our right brains over our left — or who, better yet, bring both sides of the brain to the fore?
You betcha.
Because all the research that needs to be done will spring from (or benefit from) whole-brain thinking. And all those ideas that get generated will need analyzing, explaining, visualizing, selling, and documenting. And those knowledge workers will need motivation, management, enlightenment, and empathy. And all those patients will need clear information, thoughtfully advised choices, and welcoming environments. And many of these hard-working minds will want and need stimulating cultural options at the end of their thought-filled days.
From Richard Florida's "creative class" theory to Daniel Pink's "right-brainers will rule the world," it's increasingly apparent that critical, emotionally intelligent thinking — the kind honed by the liberal arts — will be increasingly essential in a knowledge-based economy.
So as you hear more and more about IU's life-sciences initiative, don't think for a minute that it's a closed club for the MDs, test-tube geeks, and venture capitalists. Without us liberal artists to champion, inspire, explain, record, and help manage it, the initiative won't happen. But if we're all along for the ride, there will be plenty of meaningful work and human impact for both the arts and the sciences sides of our house.
Bruce Hetrick, BA'82, is chairman and CEO of Hetrick Communications, an Indianapolis-based advertising and public relations consultancy focusing on health and life sciences. A weekly columnist for the Indianapolis Business Journal, Hetrick also serves on the College of Arts and Sciences Alumni Board, the IU School of Medicine Dean's External Advisory Board, and the IU Cancer Center Development Board.
Originally appeared in The College, Winter 2006–2007. Reprinted with permission.
