John Sexton Distinguished Lecture Event
For more information regarding this event, please email events@soton.ac.uk .
Event details
John Sexton visited the University on 3 October and delivered his lecture 'Higher Education in a Globalised World' as part of the 2016 Distinguished Lectures Programme.
Lecture synopsis
The university is one of the world's most enduring institutions, and the modern research university is its most sophisticated presentation. However, globalization, technology and market forces are reshaping the form and function of the research university. What are the relevant forces and what are their likely effects? John Sexton, President Emeritus of New York University, offers his perspective on the future of higher education in a global society.
Watch the lecture
About the speaker
President Emeritus John Sexton served as fifteenth President of New York University from 2002 through 2015. He is NYU’s Benjamin Butler Professor of Law and Dean Emeritus of the Law School. Currently, he is serving a six-month appointment as the Kluge Chair in American Law and Governance at the Library of Congress.
During his presidency, NYU’s reach and stature grew tremendously. He oversaw the University’s largest increase in the number of Arts and Science faculty; applications for undergraduate admissions reached record levels; and NYU’s world rankings have increased dramatically. Other milestones include a merger with Polytechnic University, now the NYU Tandon School of Engineering, and, in 2008, the most successful completed fundraising campaign in the history of American higher education.
A signature of his tenure was the emergence of NYU as a Global Network University, with a network of 11 international academic centres on six continents and degree-granting campuses in Abu Dhabi and Shanghai.
A Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, President Emeritus Sexton also serves on the board of the Institute of International Education and is past Chair of the American Council on Education. In 2015, he received the TIAA-CREF Hesburgh Award for Leadership Excellence, recognizing outstanding university presidents, and the Institute of International Education’s Duggan Award for Mutual Understanding. He is also the recipient of fourteen honorary degrees.
Before coming to NYU, President Emeritus Sexton clerked at the United States Supreme Court and the United States Court of Appeals. From 1966-1975, he was a Professor of Religion at Saint Francis College in Brooklyn.
President Sexton received a Bachelor’s degree in history, a Master’s degree in comparative religion, and a PhD in the history of American religion, all from Fordham University. He received a law degree magna cum laude from Harvard Law School.