Former SOCOM chief McRaven aims to put Texas on the Pentagon's radar.

• Author: I. Erwin, Sandra

Even the brightest minds at the Pentagon need all the help they can get as they grapple with increasingly baffling national security dilemmas. The U.S. military for the first time in decades faces the prospect of losing its technological edge vis-a-vis emerging powers. The U.S. government at large also is hobbled by a widening trust gap between its leaders and the younger generation.

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These looming, complex challenges require fresh thinking and bold leadership, and that puts the burden on the nation's academic institutions to step up their game, says retired Adm. William H. McRaven, a former Navy SEAL and commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, now in his second year as chancellor of the University of Texas System.

While Silicon Valley gets all the attention from Washington these days as a beacon of innovation for a government that keeps falling behind the technology curve, institutions in the heartland often are overlooked. McRaven has set a goal to put the university's high-tech capabilities on the map, and in the process elevate the profile of academia as a fount of knowledge that should be tapped to solve national and global security problems.

"It is evident to me that Washington and all who address national security can benefit from multiple perspectives," McRaven told National Defense in a statement.

"Having spent a lifetime in the world of national security, I stay tuned in to the chaos in the world," he said. "The national security threats confronting us now are so varied, so complex and so serious, that they call for the brightest available minds to convene and collaborate in search of solutions."

UT officials who spoke with National Defense about McRaven's transition from the top echelons of the military's command structure to the head of a major university said he has been careful to avoid the perception that he would "militarize" the school. The sprawling UT System of 14 semi-autonomous institutions is best known for its medical knowhow. And it does have a strong track record of scoring government research contracts, including military projects--some of which date back to World War II. McRaven now wants to elevate the profile of UT in emerging defense-related disciplines like cybersecurity, biodefense and advanced manufacturing.

"The chancellor has been through an interesting journey," said retired Maj. Gen. Tony Cucolo, a former commander of the Army's Third Infantry Division who is now McRaven's top...