Over the last 10 years, ASU has dramatically increased the number of faculty who have received the highest awards in their fields. ASU has welcomed three Nobel laureates, eight members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 10 members of the National Academy of Sciences, six members of the National Academy of Engineering, three members of the Royal Society, and dozens of other recipients of awards or fellowships from the most prestigious scholarly organizations.

ASU has also significantly increased its production of high-achieving students. In 2010, The Wall Street Journal ranked ASU fifth in the nation in producing the best-qualified graduates – those that are the most prepared and academically well-rounded, who fit in well with companies’ cultures and produce the best track records. In the last 10 years, ASU was the top-ranked public university for students who were named to USA Today’s All-USA Academic First Team. ASU has also become a top 10 producer of Fulbright Scholars, with 155 since fiscal year 2002. ASU has produced six Truman Scholars and six Marshall Scholars, and the university’s enrolled National Merit Scholars increased by 33 percent under the New American University mission. ASU currently enrolls more National Hispanic scholars than any other institution.

ASU is a student-centered institution, whose goal is to produce master learners capable of learning anything. Today’s knowledge and skills, however, are rapidly rendered obsolete by the accelerating global pace of discovery and its embodiment in technology and process transformation. Many of 2012’s high-demand, high-wage job opportunities did not exist and were not even predictable in 2002. In addition to producing master learners, ASU’s student-centered mission of excellence is to produce graduates who become lifetime learners, able to continually evolve and grow as the world changes. In order to achieve this mission, the university has designed its curriculum to encompass the additional skills to meet these objectives. An example of one such important skill is an understanding of entrepreneurship principles and practices.

Students are encouraged to pursue their dreams at ASU and the university offers the infrastructure to accomplish their goals. ASU has embraced entrepreneurship as a design principle that permeates the entire university and is not housed in one particular school. The Edson Student Entrepreneur Initiative launched in 2005 through a generous endowment from Orin and Charlene Edson. The Edson Accelerator provides funding, office space and intensive, mentor-led guidance to teams of students within all university disciplines.

Building on the success of Edson, ASU launched Innovation Challenge, P.A.V.E., 10,000 Solutions and Changemaker Central, all aimed at continuing to build awareness of ASU’s excellence as a vehicle of social and world change through entrepreneurship. The Kauffman Foundation provided a substantial grant to increase entrepreneurial programs throughout the university. ASU students have utilized these entrepreneurial resources to create nationally recognized programs. In 2011, three of the top five finalists in Entrepreneur Magazine’s College Entrepreneur competition were ASU students and one of them took home the grand prize. These programs aimed at improving the world while shaping student dreams and destinies enable ASU graduates to face a changing world armed with ability, ambition and the tools to succeed.