Timelines: 1981
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The Gore hearings
"... a balance must be struck ..."
Serving in his second term in the House of Representatives, Democratic Congressman Albert Gore, Jr., of Tennessee’s 4th District, holds a series of hearings on changes in university-industry relationships, intellectual property arrangements, and the effects of commercialization on biomedical research conducted in academic settings. When the hearings conclude, Gore comments on potential conflicts of interests: “As ties between universities and industry grow increasingly closer, a balance must be struck between the intellectual independence of the scientist and the university and the industrial desire for commercial opportunity.” These issues are addressed a year later at the opposite end of the continent, by academics and industrialists attending a conference organized by Stanford University President Donald Kennedy. The meeting is held at Pajaro Dunes on Monterey Bay.