Dr. Ravi Prakash delivers Grace Series Talk on risk-taking and excellence in higher education
Marking a decade of inspiring talks, the Department of Computer Science at The University of Texas at Dallas opened the Fall 2025 Grace Series with its 55th speaker, Dr. Ravi Prakash, professor of computer science. In his lecture, “Fostering a Culture of Excellence in U.S. Higher Education: Yes to Risk-Taking and No to Bean Counting,” Prakash challenged students to reflect on the values that make American universities unique and to consider their responsibility in preserving those principles for future generations.
Prakash emphasized that his lecture would not be technical. Instead, he would explore the core ideas that allow higher education and research to flourish. “It’s always good to be reminded of these values from time to time,” he said.
To begin his talk, he briefly traced the origins of the modern university to 19th century Prussia and Wilhelm von Humboldt’s vision of free inquiry. Prakash highlighted how this model shaped the development of the United States’ higher education system through the Morrill Act of 1862 and 1890, as well as the Hatch Act of 1887. These reforms, he said, democratized access to knowledge and strengthened the university’s role as “a place not simply to train for jobs, but to pursue knowledge independently of political control.”
Prakash then turned to the principle of academic freedom, which he described as the “lifeblood of higher education.” Prakash drew on the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Sweezy v. New Hampshire (1957), quoting “Teachers and students must always remain free to inquire, to study and to evaluate, to gain new maturity and understanding; otherwise, our civilization will stagnate and die.”
Prakash reminded everyone that academic freedom applies not only to professors but also to students, empowering them to challenge dogma and develop as independent thinkers. He quoted Sweezy v. New Hampshire (1957), saying, “No one should underestimate the vital role in a democracy that is played by those who guide and train our youth. To impose any straitjacket upon the intellectual leaders in our colleges and universities would imperil the future of our nation.”
Building on that foundation, Prakash turned to the importance of risk-taking in research. He said that universities have the unique freedom to pursue bold long-term challenges and questions. “By empowering scholars to take risks without guaranteed results, we have enabled discoveries and inventions that have defined entire fields of study,” he said.
To illustrate his point, he shared the story of Dr. Katalin Karikó, whose pioneering research on mRNA endured decades of rejection and setbacks before paving the way to the development of COVID-19 vaccines and a Nobel Prize in 2023. “That was a moonshot,” Prakash said. “Everybody kept telling her that she would not succeed. However, she persisted, and she did it.”
While risk-taking drives excellence, he also warned against the rise of “bean counting” in academia, which he characterized as a growing obsession with metrics such as publication counts, grant totals or rigid performance measures. “When we focus too much on counting what can be measured, we risk discouraging the very exploration that makes universities unique,” he said.
He argued that true excellence isn’t measured by numbers alone but by persistence, integrity and the willingness to fail in pursuit of meaningful discoveries. “Excellence requires hard work, excellence requires persistence, and excellence requires courage,” he said.
As he concluded, Prakash challenged students to embrace their curiosities, take calculated risks in their studies and place value on depth over quantity. “Defend the culture of risk-taking and intellectual exploration that fosters true excellence,” he said. “That responsibility lies with all of us.”
A longtime member of the computer science faculty in the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science, Prakash’s teaching and research span wireless and sensor networking, mobile computing, multimedia streaming and distributed computing, with recent work focusing on immersive 360-degree video streaming. He has received numerous research grants, including the NSF CAREER award. He has served in leadership roles, including editor of IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing, president of the IEEE Dallas Section and speaker of the UT Dallas Faculty Senate. He received his bachelor’s degree from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, and his MS and PhD from The Ohio State University.
The Grace Series celebrates the contributions and real-world impact of women and men in science, technology and math (STEM), aiming to inspire and empower more people to pursue careers in STEM. Since the Department of Computer Science launched the lecture series in spring 2015, more than 50 speakers have shared their unique journeys, challenges and triumphs to encourage the next generation of innovators and leaders. Find words of inspiration and innovation by reviewing past lectures in the Grace Series.