STEM (science, technology, engineering & math) education is the backbone of the innovation economy. Yet at many schools, it's become stodgy and irrelevant to solving real-world problems. Not surprisingly, many of the best minds forgo college or drop out. What would it look like to design a STEM program that is inspiring, cutting-edge, and grounded in timeless truths? And how do you educate the next generation of great entrepreneurs who are also citizens of virtue?

This week, we discuss a better model for STEM with Dr. David Ruth, Dean of the Center for STEM at the University of Austin (UATX). Dr. Ruth is a retired U.S. Navy Captain who worked on a nuclear attack submarine, an aircraft carrier, and as a war planner in Asia, before teaching advanced mathematics at the U.S. Naval Academy for 13 years.

In this episode, Dr. Ruth lays out UATX's approach to 21st-century STEM: a curriculum that balances first principles with practical application and unparalleled industry engagement. (We're already partnering with The Boring Company and other leading companies in Texas!) Many STEM programs bog down students in unnecessary tasks; UATX is taking a different approach with "computation-enabled thinking" that combines what humans do best (abstracting, modeling, and interpreting) with what computers do best (computation). We also discuss how to safeguard science and math from identity politics, and the importance of making STEM exciting and challenging through innovative games and challenges. If you're a student pursuing a STEM education, we hope you'll check out what we're building at UATX.

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Ep 86: How to Design a STEM Curriculum for the 21st Century with Dr. David Ruth

Joe Lonsdale: American Optimist