A legacy of innovation that Jefferson would have loved
April 13 would have been Thomas Jefferson’s 271st birthday, which prompted me to think about his remarkable contributions to our commonwealth and our nation. Not only was he the third U.S. president and the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, he was one of our great innovators in American history.
Every day for 50 years, Thomas Jefferson rose with the sun, waking as soon as he could read the hands of the small clock he kept next to his bed. He began every morning by engaging in scientific discovery, measuring the temperature, the wind’s speed and direction and the amount of precipitation that had fallen overnight — a process he would repeat twice a day.
He would note which birds and flowers he would see, based on the season and the weather conditions.
Then he would dress, filling his pockets with scientific instruments that he would use throughout the day wherever he went: scales, a thermometer, a surveying compass, a level, even a miniature globe. He carried a small ivory notebook in which he would record his discoveries throughout the day. At night, he would transcribe those observations into his vast catalog of journals; then erase the writing in the ivory notebook to begin anew when the sun rose again.
For Thomas Jefferson, every day was dedicated to innovation. And you can still see many of his inventions when you visit Monticello.
“I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.”
– Thomas Jefferson
He began a long history of innovation and creativity in Virginia. Generations of visionaries across the commonwealth have built on that foundation in the 200 years since. Jefferson focused on how the world worked. Virginians today are imagining how the world could be.
I am proud of the many ways that Virginia Commonwealth University has continued Jefferson’s great legacy of innovation. Last year, despite sequestration and tighter federal budgets, our research activity still reached $250 million. We remain one of the world’s top 200 research universities, according to one international ratings agency.
Just as Jefferson did more than 200 years ago, VCU remains committed to creating a better future for our commonwealth and its people through innovation, discovery and a commitment to advance the human experience. I am grateful to our students, alumni and faculty colleagues who make this commitment real — on Thomas Jefferson’s birthday and every day.
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