In this episode of Not Alone: Leaders in conversation, we trace how university leadership split between internal stewardship and external politics, and what that means for mission, trust, and culture. Robert A. Brown lays out why research finance is fragile, how immigration and AI shape the future, and where focus and courage will be required.

Topics include:

• Growth of constituencies and the provost–president divide
• Declining public confidence driven by cost, access and politics
• Research economics, indirects and the risk to Endless Frontier
• Subcritical departments and the culture of merit
• Teacher‑scholar model under pressure and reputational incentives
• Immigration as talent strategy and soft power
• Demographics, consolidation and institutional resilience
• AI shifting teaching from facts to judgment and identity
• Focused research priorities and harder leadership choices

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