Solving the Problems of the Future
by President John E. Jones III '77, P'11
I hope you are as excited as I am by the recent announcement of Dickinson’s new Burgess Institute for the Global Economy. You’ll find a story, along with thoughts from the institute’s founder, Mark Burgess ’81, here.
Mark first came to me with the concept, and I embraced his vision, knowing it would be a game changer for Dickinson. His generosity in animating that vision with the largest gift in support of a new academic program in our college’s history, and the generosity of others who contributed to the institute’s inception, will have an immediate impact.
The institute will build on our already strong majors in international business & management and economics, as well as tap the expertise of our alumni and parents, to further develop business and leadership skills in our students.
This approach takes full advantage of our broad and deep liberal-arts education and pairs it with practical experience in finance, technology and global economic systems that will benefit our students throughout their careers. That deep, cross-disciplinary education is a hallmark of the institute.
Developed through the great work of Vice President for Advancement Carlo Robustelli and in collaboration with Provost Renee Cramer, the Burgess Institute will be headed by Executive Director Steve Riccio. It will focus heavily on experiential learning—something our students crave. They will learn from executives-in-residence, examine case studies, participate in simulations, visit businesses and get real-world experiences through internships and externships.
Students will also learn about ethical decision-making, something that I am passionate about, and they will take a variety of classes and build skills that will prepare them to be the global business leaders of the future. All students, regardless of their major or future career, will be able to benefit from learning about finance and our economic system, which impacts every field and shapes the world as we know it.
This is just one more way Dickinson is boldly moving forward to meet the future.
Our students are grounded in a rich and diverse curriculum that pairs academic learning with practical application that sets them up to solve the problems of the future. A terrific example of that was recognized by Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro during a recent visit.
Since 2008, Matt Steiman, special projects manager at the Dickinson College Farm, and Dickinson students have been working on using waste to make energy. They are mixing livestock manure with food scraps from Dickinson Dining Services and community businesses to make biogas, a renewable, climate-friendly alternative to natural gas. Matt and the students have used this project to make cooking fuel for years, but in the last two years they have scaled this cocktail to be a model for small farmers across the country and will soon be converting the biogas to electricity to power the farm and feed the utility grid.
Working with a local farmer, the farm now boasts a large-scale biodigester, which not only reduces air and water pollution but makes the farm an exporter of energy. In other words, the energy created from the biodigester will generate about 200,000 to 300,000 kWh per year of renewable electricity—enough to power about 30 homes.
There are 5,000 dairy farms in Pennsylvania, with an average herd size of just 85 cows. Matt and our students are working to share their knowledge so that farmers here and across the country can apply this technology.
As I said during the governor’s visit, our Dickinson students are changing the world, even before they leave our campus.
Read more from the summer 2024 issue of Dickinson Magazine.
TAKE THE NEXT STEPS
Published August 26, 2024