Jennifer Washburn is the author of University, Inc.: The Corporate Corruption of Higher Education (Basic Books, 2005), which has received critical acclaim both inside and outside academia. Her book explores the commercial transformation of American higher education over the last 30 years, and the effect this is having on research, quality education, disinterested inquiry, innovation, and the free flow of public knowledge. Ms. Washburn's journalism articles and opinion pieces have appeared in a range of publications, including The Atlantic Monthly, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, The Nation, The Washington Times, Mother Jones, and the Journal of Commerce. In 2001, Ms. Washburn was the recipient of the prestigious National Association of Science Writers' Science-in-Society Journalism Award.

As a fellow at the New America Foundation, Ms. Washburn wrote and lectured on the market forces transforming American higher education from both within and without. She also undertook an in-depth exploration of the public mission and purpose of U.S. research universities in the Twenty-First Century. In today's globalized, knowledge-driven economy are U.S. universities meeting their diverse academic, economic, and other public-interest obligations? With market forces expanding and taxpayer support shrinking, can disinterested inquiry and academic freedom be preserved? What reforms may be needed to preserve the U.S. universities' long standing commitment to serving the public good.