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Principal's inaugural lecture

Principal's inaugural lecture challenges universities to embrace their third mission

Professor Ed Byrne, revived King’s College London’s near century old Commemoration Oration address on 27th January to deliver his Inaugural Lecture as President & Principal of King’s College London. 

The lecture, entitled ‘Learning to thrive: how can leading universities make a greater contribution to society and the economy in an increasingly connected world?’, was introduced by the Chairman of the College Council, The Duke of Wellington, in the Great Hall of the Strand Campus.

Professor Byrne acknowledged that, whilst universities have evolved significantly over the centuries, there has been little change in the high level articulation of many leading universities' missions since the Second World War, and that many aspects of university operating cultures have changed little since he began his career in the 1970s.

He argued that the third mission of universities – to utilize and share knowledge to create economic and social value – should be more fiercely embraced and embedded into day to day life within universities.

Professor Byrne contended that the world faces an array of societal, scientific and environmental challenges that exceed the purview of any single academic discipline. Universities must do more to pool their academic expertise, data and relationships to really address such challenges meaningfully.

In particular, he argued, universities must form long-term, strategic collaborations with businesses, public service providers and social enterprises to create a more dynamic platform for translational impact.

Professor Byrne stressed that universities must also maintain their tradition of contributing to progress on a global scale, serving as bridge builders between cultures, governments, institutions and opinion-leaders around the globe.  

Alongside this, the Principal focused on the importance of fostering an entrepreneurial spirit in students and staff to be the change-makers, problem-solvers and innovators the world needs.

Professor Byrne concluded the Commemoration Oration by stating:

‘When one puts all of these themes together, the conclusion is inescapable – universities continue to be centred around the production and dissemination of knowledge in all of its aspects, but we have an increasingly pro-active, engaged role to play in a more interconnected, complex world.’

‘All this necessitates a greater degree of flexibility in how we envision and deliver our key activities, and engage with external societal audiences. Thus, we will sometimes be pushed outside our comfort zones as academics and as professional staff who are used to long-established ways of doing things.

‘But the prize of upping our levels of external societal engagement – to thrive as institutions into the next century and to make a greater contribution to humanity – will be well worth the struggle.’

An abridged version of the Principal’s speech was printed in the Times Higher Education on 28 January 2016.

The full transcript is accessible here along with the slide deck.

For more information about Professor Ed Byrne, visit his web pages.

For more information about King’s, visit the King’s in Brief web pages.