| This dissertation is a historical analysis of how academic-industry research relationships have influenced, and been influenced by, traditional academic organizational structures and competing conceptions of the fundamental purposes of American higher education. It also is a historical and philosophical study of how Washington University in St. Louis has dealt with the complexities of academic research and development throughout its history. This study assesses two models through which universities collaborate with industry in the area of academic research. One, described as the "academic core" model, considers such research relationships as being consistent with comprehensive university missions of education, research, and public service. The other, described as the "peripheral" model, considers such relationships as being inconsistent with such traditional university missions, thereby necessitating that these relationships be engaged in as peripheral academic endeavors through separate organizational structures.; By exploring the "academic core" and "peripheral" models in more detail through case studies of Washington University's Schools of Engineering and Medicine, this dissertation posits that many universities moved entrepreneurial endeavors and industry research collaborations to the periphery of the university, but are beginning to return such activities to the core of the university because the academic nature of the research enterprise became structurally and conceptually separated. The 1982 Washington University-Monsanto Biomedical Research Agreement, grounded in the university's traditional academic structure, rather than the short existence of the Washington University Research Foundation, grounded on the periphery of the university and its academic goals, is presented as a model to be pursued when engaging in such research collaborations.; Research interaction and collaboration between academia and industry have a long history in the United States. In addition to examining two structural models and competing conceptions of academic mission, this study highlights three distinct periods of heightened research collaboration between academia and industry. By incorporating such an approach, this study not only places a particular institution within this overall historical context, it also provides a framework to analyze and assess the impact of the two primary institutional approaches for engaging in such relationships on traditional academic values. |
