Virtue on Mars: Rethinking education at the edge of humanity

This article is part of the Future of Universities Thoughtbook | Entrepreneurship Edition, the latest volume in UIIN’s FUT_ series that brings together global experts to explore how universities can evolve into entrepreneurial, innovation-driven institutions. This edition features 35 contributions examining how higher education can embrace entrepreneurship as a mindset that drives societal and economic impact.

The author, Santiago Iñiguez de Onzoño, is the President of IE University and a global leader in higher education. In his contribution, he imagines what a university on Mars might look like, and uses that thought experiment to make a broader argument about the future of education on Earth. Rather than focusing only on technology and technical expertise, the article highlights the importance of the humanities, virtue-based leadership, and the enduring role of professors in shaping thoughtful, ethical, and resilient leaders.

What if there was a university on the surface of Mars?

To do so is to imagine a new frontier not just in space exploration, but in education itself. This college would be far more than a facility where students acquire technical skills or professional acumen; it would be a pioneering experiment in rethinking what it means to educate leaders for a radically different future. Living and working on Mars demands a profound redefinition of human knowledge, community, and leadership — and at the heart of this reinvention lies an unwavering commitment to the humanities and the vital role of professors as guides, mentors, and moral compasses.

In the thin, harsh atmosphere of Mars, where every breath is hard-won and survival hinges on cooperation, leadership cannot be a narrow pursuit of profit or strategy alone. It must be deeply human — grounded in virtues like empathy, integrity, humility, courage, and resilience. The Martian University would be an institution dedicated to nurturing these qualities alongside intellectual rigour, crafting leaders who understand that their decisions affect not only markets but lives and ecosystems in fragile environments.

Virtue-based education matters for leadership

Central to this vision is the cultivation of virtues — moral qualities that shape character and behaviour, enabling individuals to act wisely and well in complex situations. This emphasis draws inspiration from classical education traditions that viewed education not merely as the transmission of information, but as the formation of the whole person. The great educators of antiquity, from Socrates to Aristotle, from Confucius to Aquinas, recognised that knowledge without virtue is hollow and that true leadership requires a cultivated character.

The virtues cultivated in a Martian university would be both timeless and urgently relevant. Courage would empower leaders to face the unknown with steadiness; prudence would guide their decision-making amid uncertainty; justice would ensure fairness and respect in fragile social ecosystems; temperance would regulate excess and promote balance; and humility would foster openness to others’ perspectives and the limits of one’s knowledge. These virtues would not be abstract ideals but lived realities, practised daily in the demanding conditions of Martian life.

The role of the humanities in a Martian university

Here, the humanities would take centre stage: philosophy, literature, history, art, and ethics would not be the foundation of the curriculum. These disciplines foster critical thinking, self-awareness, and moral imagination — capacities essential to navigating complexity and uncertainty. Through the humanities, students would learn to grapple with questions of meaning, justice, identity, and responsibility, all of which become acute in a world where social bonds are literally a matter of life and death.

Humanities courses would be designed not only to transmit knowledge but to immerse students in deep, dialogical inquiry. Storytelling seminars might explore the narratives of pioneering explorers, marginalised voices, and speculative futures, cultivating empathy and broadening perspectives. Philosophy workshops would challenge students to confront ethical dilemmas posed by terraforming, resource allocation, or AI governance. The arts would inspire creativity and provide a vital outlet for expressing the profound psychological and social shifts that life on Mars entails.

This immersive humanities core would be tightly interwoven with practical problem-solving and scientific knowledge. Far from being isolated silos, the disciplines would interact dynamically. Professors would be central to this vision, playing roles far richer than mere conveyors of information. In an era dominated by AI tutors and the rapid dissemination of knowledge via technology, the human teacher remains indispensable.

Why professors remain essential in the age of AI

Professors would serve as mentors, facilitators, and ethical interlocutors, helping students make sense of what they learn and apply it wisely.

Their role would involve more than delivering lectures or grading assignments. They would engage students in Socratic dialogue, encouraging questioning and self-reflection. They would model moral courage and intellectual humility, openly grappling with uncertainties and complex dilemmas. Through sustained relationships, professors would foster a culture of trust and intellectual daring, helping students navigate the emotional and ethical challenges of life on Mars.

These educators would also be scholars and practitioners, constantly engaging with cutting-edge research and real-world challenges. Many would shuttle between Earth and Mars, bridging planetary perspectives and enriching the academic community with cross-cultural insights. Their work would extend beyond the classroom into the community, supporting leadership projects, mediating conflicts, and facilitating collaborative innovation.

Technology would undoubtedly enhance education in this Martian university, but never replace the nuanced human interactions that form the core of meaningful learning. AI tutors—equipped with the most advanced natural language processing and reasoning capabilities—would provide personalised, adaptive assistance. They would guide students through complex subjects, offer Socratic questioning, and track individual progress, allowing professors to focus on mentoring and ethical guidance rather than rote instruction.

Yet, educators would remain wary of over-reliance on technology. Research shows that excessive cognitive offloading to machines can dull critical thinking and ethical sensitivity. Therefore, the curriculum would intentionally include “deep thinking modules” where students engage in reflective dialogue, ethical reasoning, and creative problem-solving without AI aid. These modules serve as counterbalances, ensuring that technology supplements but does not supplant human judgment.

Technology, campus life and human-centred learning

The campus itself would embody this blend of high-tech innovation and human-centred design. Envision modular titanium and bio-composite domes housing classrooms, living spaces, meditation rooms, and communal areas. Central to the campus would be the Educatron, a sleek titanium capsule that can download years of knowledge in mere minutes, enabling rapid acquisition of languages, literature, mathematics, and systems thinking. But access to this potent tool would be highly regulated—reserved for students who have demonstrated deep engagement through experiential learning and ethical maturity.

Alongside the Educatron, the Leadership Pill—a neurobiological innovation—would be available to enhance empathy and social attunement by carefully modulating hormones like oxytocin and vasopressin. Again, use of this pill would be voluntary and contingent upon thorough psychological screening, ethical training, and community approval, ensuring it is a tool for deepening virtues, not a shortcut to leadership.

However, despite these futuristic technologies, the university’s core commitment would be to human growth through social connection, dialogue, and shared experience. Students and professors would live in close-knit residential “clusters” fostering extended conversations during meals, projects, and reflection sessions. Peer mentoring and community rituals would reinforce trust, accountability, and belonging — vital in the isolated and high-risk Martian environment. Learning would be deeply experiential. Instead of exams, students would be assessed through leadership projects addressing real challenges—managing habitat systems, resolving resource conflicts, or designing social enterprises. These projects would be co-led by faculty mentors and AI advisors, blending human wisdom with computational insight.

The humanities would permeate every aspect. The ethical questions raised by terraforming or AI governance would not be abstract theory but immediate, lived realities. Literature and art would offer solace and inspiration, helping students process the psychological weight of isolation and the vastness of space. History would provide lessons from past civilisations, helping future Martian leaders avoid repeating Earth’s mistakes.

This emphasis on the humanities and the indispensable role of professors reflects a deeper understanding of what it means to educate for the future. Technical knowledge and AI-assisted learning are powerful, but without a grounding in moral reflection, cultural understanding, and human connection, education risks producing leaders who are efficient but unwise, brilliant but disconnected.

The Martian university would thus be a beacon of holistic education — one that honours the complexity of human experience and prepares leaders not only to succeed but to serve. Its graduates would return to Earth or found new colonies equipped not just with skills but with vision and character, ready to lead with integrity in an era that demands cooperation over competition and stewardship over exploitation.

Virtue cultivation also fosters the inner resilience and community-oriented mindset critical for survival on Mars. The psychological stresses of isolation, confinement, and the unforgiving environment mean that students must develop self-mastery, emotional intelligence, and a strong ethical compass. Classical virtues are not antiquated relics but practical tools for building trust, managing conflict, and sustaining hope in the face of adversity.

What Earth’s universities can learn from the idea of Mars

Long before humans set foot on Mars, this vision can inspire Earth-based institutions to rethink education — re-centring the humanities, elevating the professor’s role, integrating technology wisely, and building learning communities that nurture whole persons. The challenges of Mars simply amplify truths that have always mattered: that education must engage the heart as well as the mind, that teachers are guides on lifelong journeys, and that humanity’s future depends on leaders who can think deeply, feel deeply, and act ethically.

In the end, the Martian university is more than a futuristic concept; it is a call to reimagine education itself. It asks us what it means to learn, to teach, and to lead when life depends on cooperation, creativity, and courage. How do we cultivate wisdom in an age of accelerating technology? How do we nurture community in a world that can seem fragmented and alienating? How do we honour our humanity even as we reach for the stars?

These are urgent questions for educators everywhere. Mars may be far away, but the lessons it demands are already here on Earth. The humanities and dedicated professors are not relics of a bygone era; they are the heart of education’s future — whether on the red planet or the blue.

Ready for more?

£ thought-provoking, we recommend reading A new hope for the university by Todd Davey and Arno Meerman. Their article explores how higher education could be rebuilt from first principles to drive innovation, collaboration, and societal impact.

More contributions from the Future of Universities Thoughtbook | Entrepreneurship Edition will be released in the coming weeks. You can download a preview or, if you’re a UIIN Member, access the full book.

Stay tuned for more visionary perspectives on how universities can evolve as entrepreneurial, impact-driven institutions.

Santiago íñiguez de Onzoño (author) is the President of IE University and a global leader in higher education. He received the Founders Award by Thinkers50 and has authored several books, including The Learning Curve (2011) and Philosophy Inc. (2023), with translations into Chinese and Spanish. His upcoming book, Dante in the Workplace (2025), explores leadership through the lens of Dante’s “Divine Comedy”. A frequent speaker at international conferences, Iniguez is a LinkedIn Top Voice and co-founded Headspring -a joint venture with IE Business School and the Financial Times. He serves on several prestigious boards, including EFMD and the Aramco Foundation. Iñiguez holds a Law degree, a Ph.D. in Moral Philosophy, and an MBA. He was also a Recognised Student at Oxford University.