The importance of graduate education

Last evening as an honorary inductee of the Golden Key International Honour Society I had the opportunity to address the new student inductees and their guests. Many of the undergraduate student inductees indicated through a show of hands that they are planning to attend graduate school. In my brief remarks I addressed the importance of their decision to pursue a course of advanced studies. Graduate education is essential for maintaining a vibrant economy and healthy communities especially in the face of increasing global competition. The only way that we can hope to move beyond the status quo is by embracing new ideas, and engaging in research to discover new knowledge and new ways of doing things. Graduate education teaches students how to think critically thus preparing them to deal with and find solutions to problems in the future. Problems we cannot even conceive of today. We must do all we can to ensure that our graduate community continues to be vibrant and healthy so that we remain able to compete in an increasingly knowledge-based and global economy.