HUNTSVILLE — What began as a modest transfer of engineers and scientists to Alabama in 1950 has quietly transformed the Tennessee Valley region into one of the most prolific centers of intellectual talent in the world.
It started with the Army’s transfer of scientists and engineers to Alabama from Fort Bliss, Texas, some 75 years ago. The group arrived in Huntsville to advance the nation’s ballistic missile program at the dawn of the Atomic Age.
It was a pivotal move, one that laid the cornerstone of a knowledge economy that would evolve far beyond the military’s initial vision.
Those 119 engineers and scientists were a prolific team assembled by rocket pioneer Dr. Wernher von Braun, and their presence planted an important seed at Redstone Arsenal, a repurposed and rejuvenated military base.
The Army program would continue to grow at a moderate pace during the 1950s, as did the number of college-educated workers moving to the Valley. However, the event that put America’s efforts into overdrive to establish superiority in space was the Soviet Union’s launch of the Sputnik satellite.
Soon thereafter, John F. Kennedy, a young and vibrant president would announce an ambitious goal for the nation — transport astronauts to the moon’s surface and return them safely to Earth.
That commitment would create an exponential growth of knowledge-oriented workers to the region.
The Valley’s workforce would never be the same again. That tremendous expansion of intellectual talent over the years has created technological capabilities that exist in few places on planet Earth. Today, the Valley boasts one of the smartest workforces in America.
The offices occupied by most of this critical mass of brainpower are located on just 14 square miles of Alabama soil designated with names such as Redstone Arsenal and Cummings Research Park.
Information provided by the Army states that 88% of the 39,000 employees at Redstone Arsenal have at least a bachelor’s degree, and many have earned advanced degrees.
Similar numbers are true for the corporations in Cummings Research Park. A non-scientific survey among companies in the park reveal that many firms report higher than 90% of their employees have a bachelor’s or advanced degree.
Meanwhile, at universities across the Valley, the campuses of Athens State University, Alabama A&M University, the University of Alabama in Huntsville and the University of North Alabama have thousands of permanent, highly educated employees. As expected, with an institution of higher learning there are higher concentrations of employees with advanced degrees.
This strong foundation of highly educated individuals has a marked impact on the community’s overall education levels.
For example, the number of people in Huntsville age 25 or older who hold a bachelor’s or advanced degree is 39%. This compares with the Alabama average of 22.6% and the United States’ average of 28.8%, according to U.S. Census data.
This accumulation of brainpower is an outcome of the vision of von Braun.
He promoted the importance of education. He said if Alabama was to play a role in America’s space program’s successes it would take efforts of local and state leaders.
In the early 1960s, von Braun addressed a gathering of business and civic leaders to kick off efforts to establish a research institute to offer advanced degrees and research expertise for Army agencies as well as NASA’s George C. Marshall Space Flight Center.
He told the crowd, “I am persuaded that we who make our homes in this community believe that this area is destined to continue to grow and become a great and permanent scientific, educational and industrial center.”
Von Braun specifically cited the need for the presence of university education, saying, “It’s the university climate that brings the business. Let’s be honest with ourselves. It’s not water, or real estate, or labor or cheap taxes that brings industry to a state or city.
“It’s brainpower.”
The Valley’s fortunes today are a testament to von Braun’s vision.
Since he made those remarks more than a half century ago, it’s abundantly clear that the intellectual strength of the Valley region has established a bastion of science, engineering, education and industry that will reach deep into the future of the region.
Today, those words echo as a call to action. Policymakers have a strategic opportunity – and responsibility – to move decisively.
The continued support of universities in the Valley is not just a regional investment.
It’s a national imperative.
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