“The federal commitment to supporting scientific and academic research emerged from the fulcrum of World War II under the leadership of Vannevar Bush, head of the US Office of Scientific Research and Development. During the war, federal funds led to the development of critical technologies such as radar and the mass production of penicillin, a valuable proof of concept of what scientists could accomplish with federal support. In the decades after the war, a partnership between the federal funding agencies and research universities became a central feature of the American research enterprise. This partnership has now fueled American leadership in scientific discovery and scholarship for the better part of a century.”