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Earlier today we got the "Taco Bell Distinguished Professor", now here is the "Panasonic Professor Emeritus of Robotics" (at MIT no less). When did academia st

by xg15 2y ago

Earlier today we got the "Taco Bell Distinguished Professor", now here is the "Panasonic Professor Emeritus of Robotics" (at MIT no less). When did academia stop to even pretend it was independent of commercial interests?

optimalsolver 2y ago
Brawndo Center For Agricultural Studies
- EGreg 2y ago
  But does it have electrolytes?
  - Avicebron 2y ago
    It's what the plants crave!
- Mistletoe 2y ago
  https://infinitejest.wallacewiki.com/david-foster-wallace/index.php?title=Subsidized_Time https://infinitejest.wallacewiki.com/david-foster-wallace/in... DFW unfortunately got this so right about our future.
  - JumpCrisscross 2y ago
    > years are referred to by the name of their corporate sponsor Many ancient cultures referenced years in relation to their rulers, e.g. 30 BCE being the year of the consulship of Caesar and Crassus [1]. DFW is cleverly recyling the corporate overlord meme. [1] https://www.trismegistos.org/calendar/cal_period_listconsuls.php https://www.trismegistos.org/calendar/cal_period_listconsuls...
    - shiroiushi 2y ago
      It's still like that here in Japan. The current year is 令和 (reiwa) 6, since the current emperor has been reigning for 5 years.
mcmoor 2y ago
Military and Industry is the best environment for a scientist. Wild enough to reward creativity but harsh enough to not let frauds fester for too long. The most optimal place to conduct mass experiments for scientific method.
- xg15 2y ago
  The environment is good, the problem is that the acquired knowledge then stays under wraps and is used to accumulate power for the host organisation, instead of advancing the knowledge of everyone.
  - lawn 2y ago
    That's hardly the worst that could happen. Consider a Tobacco Co Professor that researches the effects of smoking. What do you do when you find that smoking is even worse than thought? Do you publish the results, knowing that if you do then your professor job vanishes? Or do you withhold your findings, or try to paint them in a more favorable light?
- shiroiushi 2y ago
  >harsh enough to not let frauds fester for too long. Didn't the US military spend decades investigating ESP?
  - mcmoor 2y ago
    Is it actually decades? Also they tried, they find it doesn't work, they stopped. Sounds like a good experiment.
snapcaster 2y ago
I trust commercial interests more than academic. At least their motives are legible
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
JumpCrisscross 2y ago
> When did academia stop to even pretend it was independent of commercial interests? Why is this worse than [rich family] Emeritus?
sgt101 2y ago
I do not think Rodney Brooks has ever made any assertion that he is free of commercial interest!
bell-cot 2y ago
I'd say >140 years ago, based on: > Stanford University (officially Leland Stanford Junior University) [...] was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford, the eighth governor of and then-incumbent senator from California, and his wife, Jane, ... - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_University https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_University
i_am_proteus 2y ago
Endowed professorships such as these are usually an arrangement in which: - The sponsor gifts the department enough to sustain a faculty member, often salary + research funds, indefinitely (i.e., capital such that the interest pays the bills) - The department 'names' the professorship That's it.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- xg15 2y ago
  I'd be curious how indefinite that "indefinitely" really is. But I think the usual corruption risks apply in either case. In the scenario you describe, it's not clear why a commercial sponsor would be motivated to do such a deal. The only direct rewards for the sponsor would be "ad space" in the department name and maybe some sort of reputational bonus for "funding science". But I don't see why a brand like Taco Bell would benefit from either one, especially if the needed investment is massive. Also, even if there are no obvious conditions to the deal, this always risks inducing some degree of self-censorship on the side of the institution: Someone at the institution will think about what they can do to be attractive for more deals like this - and they'll probably be less welcoming for research that might drive away potential future sponsors.
  - jvanderbot 2y ago
    indefinitely means one-time grant which is invested, and the returns on investment pay the salary of a grad student or part of a professor's salary. So yeah, it's indefinite. These profs still have to get funds to get grad students or lab space, and still have to teach to maintain certain benefits. In later years, the endowed chair is essentially a chair in the closet as their research and teaching activity tapers off before retirement. My spouse was an education-institution major gift fundraiser, so she dealt with endowed professorships, eternal grad student fellowhips, recurring scholarships, and the like. Generally, you can attach as many or as little strings to the gift as you want, but for most things there's no way to enforce those strings after the gift is made and the financial engine starts producing.

by xg15 2y ago

optimalsolver 2y ago

Brawndo Center For Agricultural Studies

EGreg 2y ago
But does it have electrolytes?
- Avicebron 2y ago
  It's what the plants crave!
Mistletoe 2y ago
https://infinitejest.wallacewiki.com/david-foster-wallace/index.php?title=Subsidized_Time https://infinitejest.wallacewiki.com/david-foster-wallace/in... DFW unfortunately got this so right about our future.
- JumpCrisscross 2y ago
  > years are referred to by the name of their corporate sponsor Many ancient cultures referenced years in relation to their rulers, e.g. 30 BCE being the year of the consulship of Caesar and Crassus [1]. DFW is cleverly recyling the corporate overlord meme. [1] https://www.trismegistos.org/calendar/cal_period_listconsuls.php https://www.trismegistos.org/calendar/cal_period_listconsuls...
  - shiroiushi 2y ago
    It's still like that here in Japan. The current year is 令和 (reiwa) 6, since the current emperor has been reigning for 5 years.

mcmoor 2y ago

Military and Industry is the best environment for a scientist. Wild enough to reward creativity but harsh enough to not let frauds fester for too long. The most optimal place to conduct mass experiments for scientific method.

xg15 2y ago
The environment is good, the problem is that the acquired knowledge then stays under wraps and is used to accumulate power for the host organisation, instead of advancing the knowledge of everyone.
- lawn 2y ago
  That's hardly the worst that could happen. Consider a Tobacco Co Professor that researches the effects of smoking. What do you do when you find that smoking is even worse than thought? Do you publish the results, knowing that if you do then your professor job vanishes? Or do you withhold your findings, or try to paint them in a more favorable light?
shiroiushi 2y ago
>harsh enough to not let frauds fester for too long. Didn't the US military spend decades investigating ESP?
- mcmoor 2y ago
  Is it actually decades? Also they tried, they find it doesn't work, they stopped. Sounds like a good experiment.

snapcaster 2y ago

I trust commercial interests more than academic. At least their motives are legible

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

JumpCrisscross 2y ago

> When did academia stop to even pretend it was independent of commercial interests? Why is this worse than [rich family] Emeritus?

sgt101 2y ago

I do not think Rodney Brooks has ever made any assertion that he is free of commercial interest!

bell-cot 2y ago

I'd say >140 years ago, based on: > Stanford University (officially Leland Stanford Junior University) [...] was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford, the eighth governor of and then-incumbent senator from California, and his wife, Jane, ... - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_University https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_University

i_am_proteus 2y ago

Endowed professorships such as these are usually an arrangement in which: - The sponsor gifts the department enough to sustain a faculty member, often salary + research funds, indefinitely (i.e., capital such that the interest pays the bills) - The department 'names' the professorship That's it.

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
xg15 2y ago
I'd be curious how indefinite that "indefinitely" really is. But I think the usual corruption risks apply in either case. In the scenario you describe, it's not clear why a commercial sponsor would be motivated to do such a deal. The only direct rewards for the sponsor would be "ad space" in the department name and maybe some sort of reputational bonus for "funding science". But I don't see why a brand like Taco Bell would benefit from either one, especially if the needed investment is massive. Also, even if there are no obvious conditions to the deal, this always risks inducing some degree of self-censorship on the side of the institution: Someone at the institution will think about what they can do to be attractive for more deals like this - and they'll probably be less welcoming for research that might drive away potential future sponsors.
- jvanderbot 2y ago
  indefinitely means one-time grant which is invested, and the returns on investment pay the salary of a grad student or part of a professor's salary. So yeah, it's indefinite. These profs still have to get funds to get grad students or lab space, and still have to teach to maintain certain benefits. In later years, the endowed chair is essentially a chair in the closet as their research and teaching activity tapers off before retirement. My spouse was an education-institution major gift fundraiser, so she dealt with endowed professorships, eternal grad student fellowhips, recurring scholarships, and the like. Generally, you can attach as many or as little strings to the gift as you want, but for most things there's no way to enforce those strings after the gift is made and the financial engine starts producing.