John Edward Sexton (born September 29, 1942) is the fifteenth President of New York University, having held this position since May 17, 2002, and the Benjamin Butler Professor of Law at the NYU School of Law. From 1988 to 2002, he served as Dean of the NYU School of Law, which during his deanship became one of the top five law schools in the country according to U.S. News and World Report. From January 1, 2003 to January 1, 2007, he was the Chairman of the Board of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York; in 2006, he served as chair of the Federal Reserve System's Council of Chairs.
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Education and early career
Sexton graduated from Brooklyn Prep, a Jesuit high school, in 1959 (it closed in 1972). He holds a B.A. in history (1963), an M.A. in comparative religion (1965), a Ph.D. in history of American religion (1978) from Fordham University, as well as a J.D. (1979) magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, where he was Supreme Court Editor of the Harvard Law Review.
From 1966 to 1975, he taught religion at St. Francis College in Brooklyn, NY, where he was chair of the Religion Department.
From 1961 to 1975, Sexton coached the debate team at St. Brendan's High School, a Catholic girls' school in Brooklyn, NY, leading the team to five national championships and numerous invitational titles. He was named to the National Forensic League Hall of Fame in 2003. In 2005, the Barkely Forum at Emory University presented him with a Golden Anniversary Coaching Award recognizing him as a top high school debate coach of the past 50 years. Still an avid proponent of interscholastic debate, he is chairman of the board of ALOUD, the Associated Leaders of Urban Debate, which seeks to bring debate activities to underserved communities in America's urban areas
After graduating from Harvard Law School, he clerked for Harold Leventhal (judge) and David L. Bazelon of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 1979-80, and he clerked for Chief Justice of the United States Warren E. Burger in 1980-81.
Career at NYU School of Law
Faculty Member
Sexton joined the faculty of the New York University School of Law in 1981; he received tenure in 1983.
Sexton has authored several books and numerous articles, including Redefining the Supreme Court's Role: A Theory of Managing the Federal Judicial Process ISBN 0300037341 (with Sam Estreicher (Yale University Press, 1986)), and the 141-page A Managerial Theory of the Supreme Court's Responsibilities: An Empirical Study published in the NYU Law Review in October 1984. This book and study were the centerpiece of a national debate over the creation of a new intermediate court between, on the one hand, the Supreme Court of the United States and, on the other hand, the state supreme courts and the United States courts of appeals ([1]).
Sexton co-authored Civil Procedure: Cases and Materials ISBN 0-314-25329-7 (along with John Cound, Jack Friedenthal, Helen Hershkoff, and Arthur R. Miller) a widely-used textbook on civil procedure.
Dean of the NYU School of Law
In 1988, Sexton was named dean of the NYU School of Law School, succeeding Norman Redlich. During his deanship, NYU’s School of Law rose to number five in the U.S. News & World Report rankings of law schools; an emphasis on faculty recruitment reduced the student faculty ratio from 19:1 to 12:1; the Hauser Global Law School Program [2] was established; the school became among the most selective in the U.S. (average LSAT scores rose from the 94th to the 97th percentile; average GPAs rose from 3.54. to 3.66); and in 1998 the school completed the then-largest fundraising campaign in the history of legal education ($185 million). In 2000, Kent D. Syverud, then-dean of the Vanderbilt University Law School, called John Sexton the most effective dean of his generation [3].
President of NYU
Sexton was named NYU’s 15th president in 2001; he assumed the post of president in May 2002, and his official installation occurred in September 2002. In 2009, NYU’s Board of Trustees asked him to stay on as president until 2016, and Sexton agreed. During his presidency, NYU has been named the “number one dream school” four times by the The Princeton Review.
In addition to his duties as president, Sexton actively teaches; in 2008-09, he taught two courses for NYU undergraduates – a fall freshman seminar on the Supreme Court’s church and state cases, and a spring class for upperclassmen called “Baseball as a Road to God” -- as well as a year-long course on the American Constitution, religion, and government for the Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed [4] Scholars Program (outstanding undergraduate students in United Arab Emirates’ institutions of higher learning who are selected for special academic and leadership opportunities).
In 2009, a record number of prospective students applied to NYU for freshman admission [5].
During his presidency, Sexton has written a number of “Reflections” on the nature of higher education and challenges facing universities [6]. He has also discussed the nature of the university extensively on The Open Mind (TV series) [7].
He appeared as a guest on The Colbert Report on December 6, 2006; during his time in the studio, he gave Mr. Colbert one of his famous hugs [8].
Expanding the Arts and Science Faculty
In 2004, Sexton announced a program – the Partners Plan - to expand tenured and tenure-track faculty in the arts and sciences by 20 percent [9]. As of fall 2009, faculty hires under the Partners Plan included totaled 245, including 124 hires to replace departing faculty and 121 new hires to expand the arts and science faculty.
Fundraising: The Campaign for NYU
In 2008, NYU successfully finished what was then the largest completed fundraising campaign in higher education [10]. The Campaign for NYU, with a stated goal of raising $2.5 billion, ultimately raised over $3 billion. In 2009, NYU’s fundraising continued to exceed $1 million per day in spite of the economic crisis.
The Global Network University
In October 2007, NYU announced [11] the creation of NYU Abu Dhabi [12], the first such campus to be operated abroad by a major research university. The school, which the university is referring to as the “world’s honors college” [13], is recruiting top students and faculty from around the world [14], and will begin classes in the fall of 2010. NYU Abu Dhabi is led by Vice Chancellor Al Bloom, who took on the post in 2009 after 18 years as president of Swarthmore College [15].
During Sexton’s presidency, the percentage of NYU students studying abroad has increased to over 40 percent, and the Institute for International Education recognized NYU as sending more students abroad than any other US university [16]. The number of Study Abroad sites doubled, including the first sites in Asia and Africa. In fall 2009, NYU opened its latest site in Tel Aviv. In addition to its portal campus in Abu Dhabi, NYU currently operated ten Global sites on five continents [17]. In addition to its global sites, individual NYU schools and programs operate some two dozen international programs, including NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts’ TischAsia in Singapore [18]. The Stern School of Business implemented global components in its undergraduate curriculum [19]. And the NYU School of Law established an LL.M. joint degree program [20] with the National University of Singapore.
Newsweek magazine carried a Q+A with Sexton about the Abu Dhabi campus in August 2008 [21]. In August 2009, Sexton discussed the emergence of NYU as a Global Network University in an interview [22] on National Public Radio's Weekend Edition – Sunday with David Greene, as well as in two articles [23] in Abu Dhabi’s English-language newspaper, The National (AbuDhabi).
Enhancing the Undergraduate Experience at NYU
Both Sexton’s own transition reports [24] and the Middle States Accreditation Report [25] cited the need to enhance the experience of NYU undergraduates. Since Sexton’s appointment, NYU put in place the award-winning [26] 24/7 Wellness Exchange [27], specialized programming in student dorms [28] [29] [30], and novel resources to assist students [31]. In addition, NYU’s Student Health Center [32] has been a pioneer in depression screening among college students [33].
Improved Planning
In 2002, Sexton’s transition teams identified the need for improved and better coordinated planning [34].
In June 2008, the NYU published Framework 2031 [35], which reviewed and addressed the key issues, concerns, and opportunities the University would confront over the two-plus decades leading to its bicentennial.
Increases in the size of the student body and program development over time have sparked resistance in the Greenwich Village neighborhood, as community members have been upset over NYU's expansion. In 2007, NYU began a space planning process to provide a roadmap for matching the University’s academic needs and its growth through 2031 [36]; the process included a number of open houses to provide for community input [37].
Leadership in higher education
Sexton has held a number of leadership positions in major higher education organizations. While Dean of the NYU School of Law, Sexton served as president of the Association of American Law Schools. In 2009, Sexton served as chair of the Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities, vice-chair and chair-designate of the American Council on Education, and chair of the New York Academy of Sciences. He is also a member of the board of the Association of American Universities, a member of the board of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, and a member of the board of the Institute of International Education.
In 2008-09, Sexton co-chaired (with Rick Trainor, the principal of Kings College London) the US-UK Study Group on Higher Education in a Global Environment [38], a working group of university presidents constituted by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
In November 2009, Time (magazine) named Sexton one of the 10 Best College Presidents [39].
In October 2009, Sexton was suggested as a recipient of a prize for leadership on the Washingtonpost.com site [40] by Paul R. Portney, dean of the Eller College of Management at the University of Arizona.
In August 2008, Sexton was cited in Newsweek magazine in a piece called “The Campus of the Future” [41].
Sexton was interviewed by education scholar David L. Kirp for chapter four of his book Shakespeare, Einstein, and the Bottom Line: The Marketing of Higher Education ISBN 0674016343 [42]. He was also interviewed by Stephen Nelson about universities and their place in public dialogue for the book Leaders in the Labyrinth ISBN 0-275-99792-8 [43]. And he has discussed issues relating to the academy several times [44] on The Open Mind (talk show)
Grad student labor dispute
In recent years, there has been controversy at NYU over the issue of collective bargaining and union representation for graduate assistants (GAs). In 2001, NYU signed the first and only collective bargaining agreement for GAs at a private university [45]. In July 2004 in a case involving Brown University, the National Labor Relations Board reversed its 2000 ruling involving NYU and – reverting to long-standing prior precedent -- determined that graduate students are not workers [46]. In the spring and summer of 2005, there were discussions between NYU and the United Auto Workers (which represented the GAs) to try to come to terms on a new contract. Ultimately, this proved unsuccessful, and NYU decided not to negotiate a second contract [47] with the Graduate Student Organizing Committee, sparking a strike among graduate assistants in late 2005 and criticism of Sexton. GSOC called off the strike in 2006 [48]. In 2009, NYU’s Graduate School of Arts Science – home to most of the NYU's fully-funded graduate students -- modified its financial aid packages for graduate students to eliminate assistantship duties; thereafter, graduate students who wished to teach could do so (with additional compensation beyond their graduate study stipends) as adjunct faculty, who are unionized at NYU [49].
Free speech dispute
During Sexton’s presidency, NYU also became involved in a disagreement with the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE). FIRE claimed that NYU wrongly (but constitutionally, since NYU is a private school) suppressed the display of Mohammad cartoons in April 2006, which were planned to accompany an event sponsored by an NYU student organization, the Objectivist Club. The student organizers had been given a choice by the University: the cartoons could be displayed, in which case the event would have to be an NYU-only event, open to the 60,000 member NYU community; or the Club could choose not to display the cartoons, in which case the event could be open to the general public as well. The Objectivist Club chose the latter format. In a letter, Sexton challenged FIRE claims [50].
Honors
Sexton is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
In 2002, an endowed professorship – the John Edward Sexton Professorship of Law – was created in his honor at the NYU School of Law.
In 2003, the 60th anniversary edition of NYU’s Annual Survey of American Law was dedicated [51] to Sexton.
In July 2008, he was named a Chevalier de la Legion d'honneur.
He has received honorary degrees from Fordham University, St. John's University (New York), the University of Rochester, St. Francis College, and Katholieke Universiteit Leuven.
Sexton was named the Brooklyn Prep “Alumnus of the Year” in 1995. And he was selected as the featured speaker Harvard Law School Forum Speaker in 2005 [52].
Personal life
Thomas Oliphant's New York Times Bestseller Praying for Gil Hodges briefly mentions that Sexton grew up as a Brooklyn Dodgers fan. In fact, Sexton is such a well-known baseball fan that he was an early participant in Rotissere (or Fantasy) Baseball, as a member of the Eddie Gaedel Baseball League. Sexton was one of a number of celebrities who reminisced about their baseball memories on the HBO special Brooklyn Dodgers - Ghosts of Flatbush. In July 2009, Sexton was invited to throw out a first pitch at Washington Nationals Game [53].
In September 2009, he was featured in The New York Times’ Sunday Routines section [54].
His wife, Lisa E. Goldberg, president of the Charles H. Revson Foundation, died suddenly on January 21, 2007 at age 54 [55]. He has a son, Jed, and a daughter, Katie. Jed is married to Danielle DeCrette and has three daughters: Julia, Ava, and Natalie. Sexton also has a dog, LEGS.
| Academic offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by L. Jay Oliva |
President of New York University 2002- |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Preceded by Norman Redlich |
Dean of New York University School of Law 1988-2002 |
Succeeded by Richard Revesz |
References
- New York University's Official Website
- New York University - About John Sexton
- Federal Reserve Bank of New York - About John Sexton
- Washington Square News article
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