The best part about working on the frontiers of scientific research is that you get to talk with donors about solutions. Solutions to climate change. Solutions to cancer. Solutions to water shortages. Global WiFi provided by a network of low altitude geostationary satellites. Being a fundraising professional for three global research powerhouses meant surfing the endless frontier of human progress. But what I also loved most about working in scientific fundraising was that I got to make the case - day after day after day - for why donors should support projects and programs with current use dollars, rather than through endowments. I would reason that the problems facing researchers today, from physicists and biologists to social scientists and even historians, are remarkably complex, requiring sustained, high intensity inputs to create the necessary escape velocity towards real solutions. Besides, once a given problem is solved, the end...