The Association of American Universities (AAU), an organization of 62 leading public and private research universities, today proposed a national education and innovation initiative "aimed at meeting the economic and security challenges we will face over the next half-century." The initiative, described in a white paper (http://www.aau.edu/reports/NDEII.pdf) issued by AAU today, contains a broad set of recommendations for policy changes and investments, primarily by universities and the federal government, designed to strengthen the nation’s capacity to perform basic, university-based research; cultivate American talent in the sciences, engineering, mathematics, and foreign languages; and continue to attract and retain the best talent from overseas..