Abstract: was founded in 1965 with Christopher Freeman as its Wrst director.From the beginning, it had a crossdisciplinary research staV consisting of researchers with backgrounds in subjects as diverse as economics, sociology, psychology, and engineering.SPRU developed its own cross-disciplinary Master and Ph.D. programs and carried out externally funded research, much of which came to focus on the role of innovation in economic and social change.It attracted a large number of young scholars from other countries who