In this century, the wealth and success of nations will depend like never before on the ability to produce and use knowledge. Universities have long been instrumental in generating knowledge and ideas. But in an increasingly globalized world, and in the face of rapid scientific change, they will need to think about a set of new challenges and how best to prepare their students for the coming decades. Universities will need to teach a new kind of literacy, in which global awareness will play an important role. They also need to deal with the dilemmas posed by the accelerating pace of change brought on by scientific and technological advances. We are on the brink of once-in-human-history progress in combating disease through the application of modern science. Doctors will have at their disposal blood tests that will tell you with substantial predictive power how long you will live and from what diseases you are likely to suffer. The Internet and the application of information technology may well represent the most profound change in the way knowledge is disseminated since the printing press. We are close to understanding the first second of the history of the cosmos.