In a previous blog posting, “An Open Letter
to Subra Suresh”, I urged the new President of Carnegie Mellon University to
assume a more prominent role in expanding CMU’s Oakland neighborhood into a global
nexus of technology innovation. Recently
I received a packet from the University of Pittsburgh’s Chancellor, Mark A.
Nordenberg, detailing the state of Pitt.
For full disclosure, I admit to being an active alumnus of and partial
to the University of Pittsburgh.
That packet contained a spiffy brochure
detailing Pitt’s achievements for the years under Nordenberg’s leadership. One particular section that caught my
attention was titled “Extending Our Commitment to Effective Partnering” where a
description of Pitt’s partnership with Carnegie Mellon under its former
President Jared Cohon was featured. A
quote from that section was “the combined academic strengths of Pitt and CMU
are surpassed in only one other American neighborhood – Cambridge,
Massachusetts, home to both Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology – and that effective partnering between Pitt and CMU not only can
elevate both universities but can make our region stronger.”
My comment to Chancellor Nordenberg and his
yet to be determined successor is “well then, assuming that’s all true, get it
done!” One could argue that the phrase
“surpassed in only ONE [my emphasis] neighborhood” is hyperbolic. I might argue that if neighborhoods are
measured by travel time proximity, then the San Francisco Bay area also
surpasses Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood with the University of California
and Stanford University as cross-bay neighbors.
But that nitpick only strengthens my argument, one that I have expressed
often in this blog, that Pittsburgh has the same resources as Boston and San
Francisco/Silicon Valley. I’ve taken CMU
to task for not promoting more development with buildings targeting new
technology users, as is so evident in the area surrounding MIT. Pitt has done only somewhat better with their
most recent growth out toward Shadyside at the University of Pittsburgh’s
Cancer Institute.
I believe this is truly an example, an
instance, and an opportunity to prove the old saw “build it and they will
come”. Time and again, across America in
established high tech nodes such as Boston, Seattle and Austin, technology companies
cite the availability of skilled employees and infrastructure as reasons for
establishing new offices. I have to
believe Google’s expanding Pittsburgh presence is manifesting that
thought. Let’s make more of that in
Oakland.
Pitt and CMU are already cranking out enough
talented engineers and bio-scientists to fill a new office building annually with
every graduating class. Physical space
needs to be built. Infrastructure
doesn’t appear without hard work from all stakeholders. Someone needs to take the lead and spark real
estate developers and government and economic development teams to make their
moves. I think Pitt’s Chancellor is in a
unique position to provide that spark.
