ASA fosters a close connection to the world of academia.  The company was founded by a UCLA engineering professor; over thirty years later many of our busiest experts are still professors, clinical professors, and instructors at major universities, among them:

 University of California, Los Angeles
ASA counts scores of UCLA-affiliated individuals in numerous academic departments as experts.

 University of Southern California
The Time Magazine / Princeton Review 2000 College of the Year.  USC's professors often serve as experts through ASA.

 University of California, Berkeley
A world-class research university and source of ASA experts.

 University of California, San Diego

 University of Washington

 Arizona State University

 many others in the University of California and California State University systems and elsewhere

Why the university focus?  For one reason: the academic connection provides a series of unique advantages to our clients, as follows:

First, because of their backgrounds and credentials, university professors bring a singular prestige to their consulting activities.

Additionally, professors -- much like experienced trial attorneys -- are skilled at distilling complex subject matter into an understandable form and communicating clearly.

Another advantage for our clients is that professors often have access to facilities and assistants (often in the form of graduate students) to assist in their expert work.

Furthermore, many university professors have conducted research in subjects in which they are asked to do expert work, thus providing a tangential benefit to our clients.

Finally, professors often find expert work rewarding not simply for financial reasons, but for the intellectual challenge involved.

There are additional benefits for our clients:  Even when we don't have a "professor-type" available for an expert assignment, we can often locate someone new through our university contacts.  New experts in particular value ASA's administrative involvement and the introduction we provide into the world of expert consulting.

And since university professors are often busy and difficult to reach, they don't mind having an organization they trust like ASA screening inquiries.  So a final benefit is this: These experts will respond quickly to our call.

Make no mistake: Some of ASA's best experts aren't even university-affiliated; however, our orientation toward the academic world has long provided clear-cut advantages to our valued clients.

top