Podcast: In conversation with Dr. Robert A. Brown

In this episode of Not Alone: Leaders in Conversation, host Professor Rafael Bras sits down with Dr. Robert A. Brown — President Emeritus of Boston University, Professor of Engineering, and Professor of Computing & Data Sciences, and one of the most experienced academic leaders in the United States.

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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