We are at a unique juncture in time as we witness domestic and international governments lower efforts to address environmental and social sustainability coupled with unprecedented cuts to federally supported research grants for higher education which serve as our nation’s backbone of innovation and scientific insights which drive public policy and corporate strategies. This panel will discuss how universities are facing these challenges while continuing to train the next generation of leaders and to invest in ground-breaking research to address environmental, human health and social sustainability imperatives. We will look to the future to understand emerging opportunities such as how artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning can be important tools for research, education and outreach. Dr. Jay S. Golden. Pontarelli Professor of Environmental Sustainability & Finance and the Director of the Dynamic Sustainability Lab at Syracuse University. Dr. Golden has served as a University President, Vice Chancellor of Research, Economic Development and Community Engagement and as a Associate Vice Provost at different R1 Universities. Dr. Christopher G. Boone is the Dean and the C. Erwin and Ione L. Piper Chair for the Sol Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern California. At the USC Price School, he holds an academic appointment as a Professor of Public Policy. Before joining USC, Boone was the Dean of the School of Sustainability and Founding Dean of the College of Global Futures at Arizona State University. He has held visiting professor positions in the Department of Biology at Georgetown University and in the Yale School of the Environment. Dr. Patricia Culligan became Dean of Notre Dame Engineering on August 1, 2020. She previously was Chair and Carleton Professor of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at Columbia University. While at Columbia, she was the founding associate director of Columbia’s Data Science Institute; a member of the Executive Committee of the Earth Institute; and Co-Founder of the Collaboratory@Columbia, which supports the development of cross-cutting curricula for a data-rich world. Dr. Joseph P. Messina is the dean of The University of Alabama’s J. Frank Barefield Jr. College of Arts & Sciences. Messina came to UA after spending 18 years at Michigan State University working in numerous capacities, most recently as assistant vice president of research and innovation for the university and senior associate dean for faculty affairs in the College of Social Science, MSU’s largest college.