Thank you for the opportunity to be here today. And congratulations to this great university and to the graduating class of 2005.

I am honored to be among faculty, students and friends of a great engineering and research university - the type of institution where many of the daunting challenges and problems we that debate in Washington are ultimately solved. Because of Georgia Tech’s reputation as one of this nation’s finest centers of academic excellence… the diplomas you receive today give you an important key to future opportunity, along with a special responsibility to uphold the tradition of achievement this institution represents.

One thing that distinguishes a great research university is the very high expectations that society places upon its graduates… and the way in which those expectations are so often fulfilled. I know this, because I also attended two such universities… and spent a number of years as a professor at one of them.

Great research universities are more important to our national life than ever before… because the challenges we face today are some of the most vexing and complex in our history. Our success in meeting them will depend in large part on how well we maintain this country’s leadership in science and technology.

The 19^th century French chemist Louis Pasteur said that "science is the highest personification of a nation, because that nation will remain first which carries furthest the works of thought and intelligence."

Our leadership in science and technology in the United States can be largely attributed to the fact that our national leaders some years ago had the wisdom to create a novel type of partnership involving the U.S. government, private industry, and America’s research universities. These partnerships started in earnest around the time of World War II… when the Office of Naval Research began funding projects at major research universities around the country.

Over time, this effort came to involve more government scientists - including many from the Department of Energy - and private companies as well. It ushered in an unparalleled time of rapid technical progress… that led to the creation of amazing new inventions and entire new industries… and gave rise to modern high-tech communities focused on research and development - places like California’s Silicon Valley and North Carolina’s Research Triangle.

The government’s integration of universities with entrepreneurs and venture capitalists brought together the strength and resources of the government… the insight and discipline of the scientific community… the knowledge and research skills of academia… the competitive spirit of capitalism… and - perhaps most important of all - the idealism and imagination of young people who had the enormous advantage of not yet knowing what could not be done. And this collaboration became a cornerstone of what we recognize today as the American economy - in my view, the greatest economic development in the history of the world.

One reason I was so honored when President Bush asked me to become Secretary of Energy… is my firm belief in the power and promise of investing in science. The Department of Energy plays a major role in funding and sponsoring science at research universities and other institutions. Its network of National Laboratories houses some of the most advanced scientific facilities in the world… and sponsors work that has garnered more than 80 Nobel Prizes through the years. One fine example of this type of partnership… is the close linkage between Georgia Tech and the Energy Department’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee - in the area of advanced computing for scientific research.

Our government’s support and encouragement of science and research go back to our country’s very early days. Thomas Jefferson set the stage for it a few years after the American Revolution when, on behalf of his fellow founding fathers, he declared that science "is the work to which the young … should lay their hands." He went on to say that "we have spent the prime of our lives in procuring them the precious blessing of liberty. Let them spend theirs in showing that liberty is the great parent of science and virtue; and that a nation will be great in both, always in proportion as it is free."

The miraculous technological advances of the past decades are a testament to Jefferson’s belief that science and liberty go hand in hand. It’s why other nations look to the United States for leadership in so many ways… and why so many students from other lands come to great American research universities like Georgia Tech.

But after so many years of American dominance in science and technology, the rest of the world is starting to catch up. Countries like China and India… which have been sending their best and brightest students to study in America… are now working to keep more of their young scholars at home. They are building their own networks of fine research universities… and forging their own partnerships with government and private industry… and establishing their own high-tech communities.

And, while fewer students from overseas are coming to study physics and computer science and engineering at American schools… fewer U.S. students are choosing to enter these critical areas of study as well. This should be a serious concern for every member of this faculty… for every corporate executive who needs a high-tech work force… and for people like the U.S. Secretary of Energy, who has to make sure we have enough good engineers and scientists working in our national laboratories, universities, and other institutions.

Clearly, one of this nation's urgent challenges in the coming years is rekindling an interest in math and science among our young people. Many of you who are looking out from beneath your mortarboards today will become researchers in such emerging fields as genomics and nanotechnology… and will develop wondrous new things that will transform the way we all live and work.

We need to make sure the great tradition of American ingenuity and know-how continues to be central to our national growth and development. I am here today to call upon every one of you receiving a diploma… and every person serving on the faculty or in a leadership role in this school and this community… to be part of this endeavor. Because we need a new generation of young leaders to accommodate the needs of a growing population… to make sure the world has enough energy… to solve the problems of pollution and safeguard the environment… to deal with the threat of terrorism… and to continue the forward march of technological progress to improve the quality of life for people everywhere.

Georgia Tech sets a wonderful example for the kind of leadership we need in this global society… in which so many problems transcend national borders. Its stated mission to "improve the human condition through advanced science and technology" is backed up by its programs that reach around the world, with campuses in Europe and Asia… and relationships with schools and corporations in so many countries.

The student body here represents more than 120 nations… one-third of this graduating class has studied abroad… and Georgia Tech awards more advanced science and engineering degrees to minority students than any other university in America. Such diversity and international cooperation make this institution an extraordinary source for solutions to problems facing the world… and for the kind of phenomenal human creativity that has emerged throughout history… to accomplish feats like curing polio and landing a man on the moon.

Georgia Tech already leads the way in many important areas of research that are addressing some of our most critical issues - including our energy problems, in which I have a particular interest. Energy is the lifeblood of our economy and our modern way of life. Demand for energy is increasing around the world… but our ability to produce it is having trouble keeping up. This is particularly true with oil and other fossil fuels… which are finite resources that someday might start running out. Ensuring secure and affordable energy supplies, in a way that protects the environment, is one of the most serious challenges facing every nation on Earth.

So I am pleased to note the important work that Georgia Tech is doing in this vital area. Georgia Tech’s research into methane hydrates, for example, could someday result in a new source of much-needed natural gas for our homes and industries. Another example - described in the winter issue of Georgia Tech’s Research Horizons magazine - is the recently launched Strategic Energy Initiative… which is exploring ways to help ease our dependence on oil… through the further development of such things as wind and solar power, tidal power, ethanol production, hydrogen fuel cells, and solid-state lighting.

This is the sort of work that will keep the problems of today from becoming the economic crises of the future… because our most sacred responsibility is to the generations that will come after us. We must identify the potential perils of the future… and begin addressing them today - whether it’s ensuring our future energy supply, or the President’s effort to preserve the solvency of our nation’s Social Security system.

The education you have received here - no matter what your major or field of study - gives you the ability, and the responsibility, to play a role in formulating the future. With its focus on the latest technologies… as well as the traditional arts and humanities… Georgia Tech instills not only the technical knowledge so critical to modern education and progress - but also the all-important element of imagination… without which few discoveries are ever made.

Imagination has always been the fuel that has propelled technology forward. Imagination inspired the early humans who invented the wheel. It inspired a math professor named Galileo… who built his first telescope at one of the world’s oldest research universities in Padua, Italy. It inspired the Wright Brothers’ airplane, and Edison’s light bulb… and it inspires the technologies of today. Albert Einstein once said that "imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited," he said. "But imagination encircles the world."

The essential importance of imagination to the science and engineering professions is perhaps even more eloquently described by someone with a slightly more whimsical perspective - the author L. Frank Baum, who wrote the classic story of the Wizard of Oz.

Baum insisted that such technical advances as the steam engine, the telephone, and the automobile "had to be dreamed of before they become realities." And he went on to say that "dreams - daydreams, you know, with your eyes wide open and your brain machinery whizzing - are likely to lead to the betterment of the world. The imaginative child will become the imaginative man or woman most apt to invent… and, therefore, to foster civilization."

And so as you go forth today with your diplomas in hand… I hope that the technical knowledge and academic skills you have acquired here become the tools of your imaginations and the building-blocks of your dreams… as you step up to take on the challenges of today’s world… and help make your country - and our global community - a better place.

So to all the graduates today… and to the parents and other family members and friends who, along with you, have invested so much time and money and labor and love into this day… congratulations on a momentous achievement. And may it be only one of many to come.

Thank you.

Media contact:
Anne Womack Kolton, 202/586-4940

Location:
Atlanta, Georgia