University Leaders Call for More Investments to Close ‘Innovation Deficit’

A group of more than 160 university presidents and chancellors on Wednesday sent a letter to President Obama and Congress urging them to increase investments in research and higher education in order to close what they called an “innovation deficit” that they said was harming the economy.

The effort was guided by the Association of American Universities, the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities, and the leaders of their member institutions. Their letter appears as an advertisement in Politico, a newspaper in Washington, D.C.

The letter states that the United States is “rapidly losing ground” to countries that have increased spending on research and education, and adds that “further cuts including sequestration will only exacerbate the problem.”

The authors urged Mr. Obama and Congress to “reject unsound budget cuts” and to “recommit to strong and sustained investments in research and education.”