Our member Andrew Lewis facilitated a candid conversation between Robert Jones, president of the University of Washington and Dr. Elizabeth Cantwell, president of Washington State University, our state’s two premier research institutions during Apple Cup Week.

Mr. Jones said that after serving 46 years in higher education, becoming president “was the capstone of his career” and Dr. Cantwell mentioned the importance of WSU being a land grant school in her decision to take the position. They both opened their remarks commenting on what a challenging time this is for higher education.

“What role do you expect AI to have at your university and in the future of the workforce?”

· President Jones: He said, AI is forcing a critical conversation; we need to do more work in our country “as its value proposition is not seen as being positive here.” One example he mentioned of adapting to AI without costing teaching or medical positions, “AI will not replace a radiologist (for example), but it will replace a radiologist that does not have AI skills. AI is fundamentally changing what it means to be an educated person.”

· President Cantwell: “emerging technologies like AI are changing almost everything in higher ed and the workforce.” As a land grant university, she sees WSU’s mission “to bring the benefits of AI to every county in our state, to all communities”; and that they are including the voice of students through on-campus student organizations and by encouraging their faculty to have conversations directly with students in the classroom.

The two presidents also covered topics related to the Apple Cup and the future of the longtime rivalry game past 2028. Both of them mentioned that they really don’t know what the future holds for this game and that their Athletic Directors are having conversations about it within the larger discussion of how to have viable athletic programs which is a bigger, complex issue that they are navigating. President Cantwell reminded everyone that “we are in different conferences now that have different constraints; regional competitions

like this are gone or going away; don’t mourn the past, what do we want to build going forward?”

And the reduction in research funding from the federal government: President Jones explained that these changes to the longtime partnership between the federal government and research institutions… will “not snap back in 18-24 months; some parts of the system did need to change,” but the overall reduction in funding “will cause our nation to lose our competitive advantage; everything is at risk; this is not political but a fundamental shift,” which is why the UW had to litigate to protect some of this funding.

President John opened the meeting at the Washington Athletic Club on a rainy and blustery late summer day that included many guests from the UW and WSU in attendance.

The Rotary Rogues led us in signing rousing versions of the two schools’ fight songs, “Bow Down to Washington” and “The Fight Song.” Paul Tsai inspired those in attendance by reminding us of the important work of the UW Mentors Program that will be celebrating 30 years next year working with UW business school students and local small businesses.

President John mentioned that our club’s new podcast will be premiering soon; look for an announcement and how you can share the first episodes with your network.

-Have a nice Labor Day Weekend, Dann!