Four Nobel Laureates, seven MacArthur Fellows, No. 1 in NASA research funding -- clearly, the University of Colorado at Boulder is a national leader in the natural sciences and engineering research.

As a comprehensive national university, however, our responsibilities extend well beyond science and technology.

The study of the human condition through philosophy, literature, history, language, religion and the arts teaches us to think critically and creatively, to reason and to ask questions.

Through the study of the arts, humanities and social sciences, we learn about the value of different cultures and how history is made. In so doing, we learn to better understand the complexities of the world in which we live.

When it comes to issues such as climate change, science and engineering alone cannot solve the problem. The solution requires many different views, notes philosophy professor Michael Zimmerman, director of the Center for Humanities and the Arts at CU.

Think about the role of behavior in the use of alternative energy. Or consider the ideal of social justice in filling "green" jobs or living in energy-efficient homes.

Zimmerman also notes that empirical data alone do not necessarily motivate people to act in challenging times. It is one thing to see data describing the toxicity of a waste dump and quite another to hear a mother living nearby describe her sick children.

Economic, social, political, cultural and religious factors are all influential in solving the world's most complex problems.

As an example, one of the most divisive social issues today is immigration, which is essentially a cultural clash that requires a humanistic explanation and solution, Zimmerman says.

The CU Energy Initiative grapples with another of the critical issues of our time: identifying, creating and utilizing new energy resources.

Yes, the ultimate solution will include biorefining, wind and solar energy, but it will also include a careful examination of policy by the Law School's Center for Energy and Environmental Security, a study of conservation by the Center of the American West and the development of economic incentives by the Deming Center for Entrepreneurship in our Leeds School of Business along with many others.

This is a perfect example of the collaborative relationship required to address these complex problems.

The arts and humanities also speak to us in other ways: to our quality of life, our expansion of knowledge and our ability to define and analyze problems.

Last month, 10 well-known Western authors gave public readings during Western Literature Week. The month before, our Center for Asian Studies hosted 200 scholars from around the world sharing their knowledge while embodying our Flagship 2030 strategic initiative to establish CU as a "global crossroads."

Our Artist Series, Shakespeare Festival and the "CU at Boettcher" concert series in Denver all contribute to the quality of life in our community.

Outside Old Main there is a statue of Robert Frost. In a tribute to the late Frost, President John F. Kennedy noted that the great poet "understood the ordeal as well as the triumph of the human spirit."

And that more than anything perhaps, defines the underlying value of the arts, humanities and social sciences at CU.

G.P. "Bud" Peterson is the chancellor of the University of Colorado at Boulder.