As I look into the future, I see bright prospects filled with discoveries and innovation. I know this is possible due to the investment we are making in graduate education here at the University of Georgia. This is an investment yielding the greatest possible return for our fellow man.

Recently I heard Subra Suresh, the head of the National Science Foundation. He stressed investing resources in our best and brightest students. This action contributes not only to the quality of life we all experience, but also to our national security as well. To invest in the intellectual capital of our students is as simple in concept as adding wheels to our suitcases. Like the wheels, funding scholarship is a stroke of good insight.

An investment made today funds the possibility for tomorrow’s breakthroughs in labs and classrooms in the State of Georgia and across the globe. As we go to press, researchers perfect a fracture putty which means a broken bone can heal in days versus weeks. A team of students work with lead professors on various aspects of water conservation in multiple states. Alumni Meredith Wright researches a bacterium associated with hospital acquired infections. They labor in order to bring their work to fruition.

Please join me and pull out the envelope. Every dollar we raise for our graduate fellowships creates an opportunity for these bright minds to do what they do best—to innovate.