Research must continue to be the centerpiece of intellectual life, and our commitment to research must grow, because our problems are growing.

Our most consequential human problems will be resolved, not through competition, but collaboration... what we need in education is a learning climate in which students work together. In such an atmosphere, truth emerges as authentic insights are conscientiously exchanged.

It is no longer enough to simply read and write. Students must also become literate in the understanding of visual images. Our children must learn how to spot a stereotype, isolate a social cliche, and distinguish facts from propaganda, analysis from banter and important news from coverage.

Education must prepare students to be independent, self-reliant human beings. But education, at its best, also must help students go beyond their private interests, gain a more integrative view of knowledge, and relate their learning to the realities of life.

An incompetent teacher is even worse than an incompetent surgeon because a surgeon can only cut up one person at a time.

I am suggesting that quality in undergraduate education means giving students a perspective that is global.

Music gives us a language that cuts across the disciplines, helps us to see connections and brings a more coherent meaning to our world.