When he was inaugurated as president of Arizona State University 10 years ago, Michael Crow described a bold vision of higher education that was radically different from the citadels of learning for which America had become known. He looked at the future needs of a rapidly changing society and world, and he challenged others to help reshape the distinctively American model of the research university.

American research universities are the finest in the world, he affirmed, but they are modeled on the gold standard of the past. They define their academic excellence by the qualifications of their incoming students, and their efforts to achieve diversity fall short. Their academic departments tend to be insular, resembling one another. They are static, rather than dynamic, focusing on research that does not move quickly enough to energize economic growth and to provide the solutions that America – and the world – so direly needs. To achieve a new gold standard takes diversified thinkers unafraid to set the bar above the status quo. To see things differently.

President Crow proposed a new gold standard for Arizona State University, one that responds to the demands and opportunities of a changing world. The new American university would cultivate excellence in teaching, research and public service, providing the best possible education to the broadest possible spectrum of society.

It would scale up quality education to graduate the number of superbly educated students the United States requires to compete globally. The university would embrace the educational needs of the diverse socioeconomic populations that make up Arizona and the nation, and its success would be measured not by who the university excludes, but who it includes. He proposed that ASU focus on outcomes, admitting students with different interests and aptitudes, judging its success by the success of each student.

The new American university would renew its public commitment to scholarship and research that meets real-world needs, and to delivering the resulting knowledge, products and services to the marketplace rapidly. It would broaden its view to consider the social implications of research, when possible. ASU would set an example by conducting research that has purpose and impact.

Lastly, the university would expand and nurture its relationships with new and existing partners, pledging to take responsibility for the economic, social, cultural and environmental health of the communities it serves. It would work together with public and private partners, on both a local and global scale, to help meet the needs of diverse communities in a sustained effort. The changing demographics of Arizona, along with its socioeconomic and environmental challenges, present unique opportunities for ASU to advance society.

The achievement of this new American university mission required ASU to come together as a community in pursuit of something greater than individual interest. The assignment required the demolition of academic and research silos to foster innovation in processes and technology, and called for unrelenting focus on an educational experience focused on its students, entrepreneurship and creativity in all aspects of university operations, in addition to creating extensive partnerships with individuals and organizations who share the vision and embrace the need for change.

This is the story of Arizona State University’s unrelenting efforts and remarkable success in breaking the mold. In the past 10 years, ASU has become the New American University, a new gold standard for the 21st century.