The American Research University: From World War II to World Wide Web Charles M. Vest Forty years after Clark Kerr coined the term multiversity, the American research university has continued to evolve into a complex force for social and economic good. This volume, based on a series of lectures Charles M. Vest delivered as the 2005 Clark Kerr Lecturer on the Role of Higher Education in Society, provides a unique opportunity to explore the current state of the research university. Vest, a leading advocate for autonomy for American institutions of higher learning, draws on his experience with a wide cross section of private and public universities in an expansive blend of analysis, history, personal reflections, and recommendations on some of the most important issues affecting universities today. This multifaceted view shows that the American research university is complex in its mission and funding, its international openness is challenged by new security concerns, and its ability to contribute to worldwide opportunity through sharing and collaboration has been dramatically expanded by the Internet and the Web. In particular, Vest addresses the need to nurture broad access to our universities and to stay true to the fundamental mission of creating opportunity. Charles M. Vest is President Emeritus and Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is author of Pursuing the Endless Frontier: Essays on MIT and the Role of Research Universities and Holographic Interferometry.