Luc E. Weber

This twelfth volume of Glion Colloquiums provides a striking kaleidoscopic perspective of the fast-changing environment of University activities and its consequences for their role and responsibilities. The diversity of the remarkable contributions provided here by some of the most eminent leaders of Research University around the globe comprise indispensable advice on guiding the Universities' future. Innovation and rapid technological advances, many of them initiated by universities and their graduates, have produced prosperity and improved living standards for billions of people. But the world is nonetheless increasingly polarized between the "haves" and "have nots", and is facing a looming environmental disaster. Political and business leadership worldwide are in a growing state of disarray, unable to deal with these challenges. Thus, Universities are more than ever at the crossroads of these paradoxical developments: not only do they contribute to the development of societies through teaching and research, but they must also help ensure a sustainable future. More than 20 leaders of renowned universities gathered in Glion-above-Montreux in Switzerland for three days in June 2019 to exchange and examine openly the new challenges facing universities and how they should respond. Their unique and remarkable contributions are now made available in this volume to students and researchers, to the worldwide academic community, to governments and to the general public.

This volume provides a fascinating perspective on the challenges facing Research Universities worldwide in an increasingly uncertain future. Breakthroughs in science and technology not only impact on the university's fundamental missions - learning, scholarship and research - they can inadvertently, with globalization, deepen the divide between those who take advantage of the breakthroughs and those who are left out - those excluded are increasingly inclined to blame the elites, resulting in the rise of populist politics and growing mistrust of scientific truth. Universities must continue to carry out frontier research and prepare students for a world and labour market that might well be very different in ten years' time. And, more than ever before, universities need to provide social as well as technical solutions to today's challenges. If universities are part of the problem, then higher learning is in a key position to be part of the solution - provided universities respond with insight to the changes and crises of the 21st century