President touts economic development in annual address

Dr. Luis Proenza

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University of Akron President Luis M. Proenza highlighted the successes of the past year by invoking the rallying cry of UA’s 2010 national championship-winning men’s soccer team, “This is Akron!” during his 12th State-of-the-University address, held Nov. 7 in the Student Union Ballroom.

With a vision focused on an ambitious future for UA – encompassing student success, an even closer state of integration with communities, and university technologies with potential for far-reaching societal impact, the president proudly touted UA’s energy and innovation as “our declaration of excellence and distinction.”

He also trumpeted the present, pointing out that UA’s success as a multifaceted engine of regional economic development – through “The Akron Model” – has caught the attention of national organizations that promote higher education’s role in driving regional economies.

'The Akron Model' as a framework for success

He described the success of The Akron Model with instances of recent partnerships. These partnerships demonstrate the power of collective impact:

• An unprecedented university/corporate collaboration between Timken Company and the UA College of Engineering
• Expansion of the UA network into Cuyahoga County through The Lakewood Higher Education Center

Praising UA’s faculty, staff and other employees for working hard to build and expand upon initiatives that are part of The Akron Model, Proenza said, “… You have enabled our University to act as a convener, developer and anchor for clusters of innovation – clusters that generate knowledge and creative capital, train human capital, build social capital, attract financial capital and preserve natural capital.”

“We are increasingly asked to share the Akron Model before national and international audiences,” he continued. He pointed out that UA has told its story in “presentations from Akron to Cleveland, Washington to California, and from Waikiki to Berlin and back again. This is Akron! ... reaching out and becoming known well beyond the borders of our region and our state. The Akron Model enables us to believe that we can accomplish bold endeavors because we have accomplished bold endeavors, and we will continue to do so by using the Akron Model as our framework.”

Faculty research develops innovative solutions to improve lives

During his presentation, the president also outlined several successful technologies created by UA faculty researchers, including:

• Researchers have devised a coal-fired fuel cell that produces twice as much energy per pound of coal, while at the same time capturing carbon dioxide and other emissions
• The development of a miniaturized sensing system to monitor the human heartbeat and detect the faintest early signs of heart failure
• Growing a new generation of polymers that can conduct electricity, which could find applications as diverse as artificial nerves, electromagnetic shielding or better rechargeable batteries

Moving the University forward

Concluding his remarks, Proenza pointed out three new, vital initiatives – through Vision 2020, UA’s Strategic Plan – that will move the University forward.

• Define a new way to benchmark UA’s success by identifying a unique set of national and international universities better suited to the University’s dynamic locale, mix of programs and opportunities
• Expand UA’s partnerships with school systems throughout the region to engender greater achievement and meet the aspirations of students who would seek to continue at The University of Akron
• Accelerate the University’s momentum through enhanced marketing and communication initiatives, more effectively enabling UA to tell its story in order to attract additional resources and forge new partnerships to enhance UA’s mission, The Akron Model and UA’s Strategic Plan, Vision 2020: The New Gold Standard of University Performance.

“In these and all other initiatives, success will be determined by our collective efforts, for this is, indeed, our story to tell, a story of all of us, celebrated by us,” Proenza said. “This is Akron!”

Media contact: Laura M. Massie, 330-972-6476 or massie1@uakron.edu