Iowa State University Commencement

Michael M. Crow, Spring 2008 Undergraduate Commencement Speaker and

Honorary Degree Recipient, Doctor of Humane Letters

Michael M. Crow – educator, knowledge enterprise architect, and science and technology policy scholar – became the 16^th president of Arizona State University on July 1, 2002.  Under his leadership, ASU has created several broad new interdisciplinary research initiatives and more than a dozen new interdisciplinary schools, and has embarked on a dramatic infrastructure expansion to create more than seven million square feet of new academic space.

A native of San Diego, Calif., Dr. Crow began his academic career at Iowa State University, receiving his bachelor’s degree in political science and environmental studies in 1977.  He worked in the energy research and policy arena in Iowa and Illinois, focusing on developing programs that linked science, engineering and social science to the critical energy, technology and policy questions of the late 1970s and early 1980s.  He earned his Ph.D. in 1985 from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University, and served on the faculties at the University of Kentucky and Columbia University before returning to Iowa State in 1985 as director of science policy and faculty member. 

At Iowa State, Dr. Crow focused on developing new knowledge enterprises and technology transfer organizations.  In six years at Iowa State, he guided the establishment of more than 15 new applied research centers and technology transfer organizational structures and mechanisms, leading to Iowa State’s first institutional successes in science-driven economic diversification, including the Institute for Physical Research and Technology (IPRT) and Center for Crops Utilization Research (CCUR). 

Dr. Crow re-joined Columbia University, where he rose to executive vice provost.  As chief strategist of Columbia’s research enterprise, he led technology and innovation transfer operations resulting in several successful initiatives and new interdisciplinary programs, including the Earth Institute and the Center for Science, Policy, and Outcomes (CSPO) in Washington, D.C., a think tank dedicated to linking science and technology to optimal social, economic, and environmental outcomes. 

Dr. Crow has been a senior adviser to the U.S. Departments of State and Commerce on science and technology policy related to intelligence and national security.  A Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration and member of the Council on Foreign Relations, he is the author of books and articles relating to the analysis of research organizations, technology transfer, science and technology policy, and the theory and practice of public policy.  In his more than 20 years as a faculty member and administrator, Dr. Crow has taught classes every academic year.

Dr. Crow is a native of San Diego, California, and is married to Dr. Sybil Francis.  He has three children, Ryan, Brittany and Alana.