Believing a vital program of scholarship and research was the key to gaining wider recognition and invigorating WPI's educational programs, Strauss helped build an infrastructure for scholarship--including many new laboratories and research centers--and oversaw a significant growth in external support for research. A measure of the success of this effort was the tripling of the four-year average of Ph.D.s awarded by WPI and the elevation of the university to the status of a doctoral university by the Carnegie Institute for the Advancement of Teaching.