Time to put the spotlight on graduating seniors

In New Haven and across the country, it is graduation season — a time to celebrate the accomplishments of young people and the families and friends who have supported them. As a resident of New Haven for 36 years, I am privileged to introduce, on behalf of Yale University, the Register’s annual “Senior Spotlight” series. Throughout the summer, we will share the stories of outstanding New Haven-area high school seniors and their plans for the future.

Young people today face a host of challenges, including many that were unknown to my generation when we graduated from high school. New technologies are opening doors and quickening the pace of discovery, but technology is also reshaping industries and changing communities. We know that the Class of 2017 — and all those who come after — will need to harness the potential of technology and use it to their benefit.

Yale wants to help students in New Haven be prepared to take advantage of opportunities presented by science and technology. We recently hosted the New Haven Science Fair, again bringing together budding scientists from across the city’s public schools. During the summer, we offer the Pathways Summer Scholars Program, a free two-week science program for high school students. Pathways Summer Scholars have the opportunity to work with Yale students, who serve as teaching assistants and mentors. Throughout the year, “Science on Saturdays” features Yale scientists who lead engaging demonstrations on topics such as dinosaurs, earthquakes, and electronics. A range of other academic and mentoring programs connect Yale to our city’s young people, helping them develop as students across different fields.

Science and innovation are crucial to our city and our economy, and to career development for the young people in our community. Yale is working to make New Haven a hub for new discoveries. The Tsai Center for Innovative Thinking at Yale (Tsai CITY) will open soon, and it will be a central meeting-place for innovators and entrepreneurs to incubate ideas. This new center will build on what Yale does best: bring together experts from across disciplines to collaborate and develop unique and unexpected solutions to problems that affect society.

We are already seeing the payoff from Yale’s efforts to spur innovation. Since 2000, over 50 startups based on Yale intellectual property have taken root in New Haven, representing over $700 million in venture capital raised and $5 billion in equity investments. Particularly in biotech, New Haven is becoming a destination for companies developing innovative, life-saving therapies that will help patients live longer, fuller lives.

We are continuing to look for new ways to foster innovation. With generous support from the Blavatnik Family Foundation, Yale is supporting researchers and helping them translate their discoveries into potential treatments for fibrosis, skin cancer, diabetes, and other diseases.

New Haven is Yale’s home, and we remain committed to helping this city and its people thrive. Yale is the largest employer and one of the largest tax payers in New Haven. The university makes voluntary payments — unusual among similar institutions — of $8 million each year to the City of New Haven. We are also the largest donor to the New Haven Promise program, providing college scholarships, covering up to full tuition, for residents who graduate from a New Haven public school and attend college in Connecticut.

Together with the people of New Haven, Yale is looking to the future. Talented, enthusiastic, and passionate, our graduating seniors dazzle us with their optimism. But most of all, they remind us that the future is bright — and in very good hands.