The highly resourced re-search universities of the United States command extensive financial, physical, and human resources. Yet with these resources come great expectations from multiple stakeholders on the roles that universities can play, and these often ex-tend significantly beyond teaching and research into community development, real estate, entertainment, economic development, K-12 education, and more. While the value of a college degree has never been higher, significant questions are being asked about the value of a college education, the rising cost of tuition, and the applicability of academic research. The solution to these questions is for universities to rededicate themselves to the core functions of research and teaching, to realize and demonstrate the benefits of academic research, and to ask hard questions about the nature of undergraduate education. Realizing these changes in an environment where there are great civic expectations of universities is a tremendous ethical challenge facing the United States and its college towns. lt;brgt;lt;brgt;Provost Thorp became Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs on July 1, 2013 and also holds an endowed chair in chemistry and medicine. Provost Thorp joined Washington University after spending three decades at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He served as the Chancellor of UNC from 2008 through 2013. lt;brgt;lt;brgt;A North Carolina native, Thorp started at UNC as an undergraduate student and earned a bachelor of science degree in chemistry with highest honors in 1986. He earned a doctorate in chemistry in 1989 at the California Institute of Technology and completed post-doctoral work at Yale University. In his research career, Thorp developed technology for electronic DNA chips and most recently co-founded Viamet Pharmaceuticals, which is commercializing new drugs for anti-fungal and prostate cancer indications. He is currently a member of the National Security Higher Education Advisory Board, the Board of Trustees of the National Humanities Center, and is currently chairing a committee for the National Academy of Sciences charged with establishing and promoting a culture of safety in academic laboratory research.