IN OUR OWN VOICE

AN ORAL HISTORY of NEW YORK UNIVERSITY’S DRAMATIC TRANSFORMATION

1970-2010 IN OUR OWN VOICE

AN ORAL HISTORY of NEW YORK UNIVERSITY’S DRAMATIC TRANSFORMATION

1970-2010 to MARTIN LIPTON —who as student, professor, trustee, donor, chair, and wise counselor has led us every step of the way on the NYU journey chronicled in these pages.

Copyright ©2015 by New York University. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording or in any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. CONTENTS

1 A NOTE TO THE READER

3 PRELUDE: \MZMV\NZWU\PM;\IZٺQ,

4 JAMES HESTER the Protector 1962-1975

42 JOHN SAWHILL \PM*Z]\IT;I^QWZ 1975-1980

62 JOHN BRADEMAS the Ambassador 1981-1991

106 L. JAY OLIVA the Street-Smart Scholar 1991-2002

138 9/11

158 JOHN SEXTON \PM>Q[QWVIZa 2002-

227 CODA

233 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS A NOTE TO THE READER

viii The voices in this oral history are edited 1 excerpts from the transcripts of filmed interviews conducted by the NYU Depart- Memory is imperfect. The editors made ment of Media Production. This narra- the greatest effort to assure the accura- tive also draws on the resources of NYU cy of these reminiscences, fact-checking Archives, on research in the NYU Librar- whenever possible while taking into ac- ies, and on other sources, such as mem- count that each participant has a distinct oirs of participants. At the first quotation point of view. Then and now, dissonance by each voice, we list titles held at NYU and debate characterize the NYU story. through 2010, the close of this work. For ease of reference for a contemporary The historical record also includes scores audience, we have used the most recent of issues, reports, and controversies that school names. a single work cannot encompass.

Inevitably, some voices are missing. Sev- Although NYU’s tale of do-it-yourself re- eral key contributors to this story were invention continues today, every story unable—because of geography or timing— needs a beginning and an end. This ac- to participate. Others, no longer alive, count presents selected voices of the are represented by citations from their many people who shaped NYU, from the speeches or writing. nadir of the 1970s, when the University was days away from being unable to make payroll, until 2010, when NYU was becom- ing the pioneering global university. PRELUDE: DIFFERENT FROM THE START

2 3

In contrast, he wanted to establish “in this immense and fast-growing city … an education fitted for all and graciously opened to all,” a university that would be in and of the city. JOHN JOHN SEXTON: In 1831, New York University off- Above 14th Street, the Manhattan we know SEXTON ered a new kind of higher education. Like its was farmland. Yet Gallatin anticipated a President since 2002; Dean of model, the University of London, NYU accepted university for the urban future, an institution the School of Law the charge of educating not only a small elite of higher learning designed to capture the from 1988–2002; but the emerging middle class, drawing on the fullness of human experience. Professor of Law since 1981 environment of a great city rather than retreat- In keeping with our founder’s vision, NYU ing to a secluded pastoral setting. For that era, draws its life force from New York, a city open the choice was revolutionary. to immigrants and visitors from around the Albert Gallatin, who with eight others found- world, enriched by many cultures, embracing ed NYU, could have fashioned this new univer- complexity, always striving. The same openness sity after any of the great universities of his day. and striving spirit have animated our global As secretary of the treasury to Thomas Jefferson ambitions in this century. and James Madison, Gallatin knew Oxford and The story of New York University is among the Cambridge, as well as the Ivy League colleges— most extraordinary in higher education, but all models of withdrawal, contemplation, NYU’s ascent to the top ranks was neither assured and privilege. nor serene, as you will see in these pages. 1962-1975 JAMES

4 HESTER 5

\PM8ZW\MK\WZ Students protest outside Warren Weaver Hall, 1970.

Among the most perilous and transforma- A Rhodes Scholar and dean of NYU’s tive periods for New York University were undergraduate and graduate schools of the decades of the 1960s and 1970s. arts and science, Jim Hester was, at 37, College campuses across the coun- the youngest of NYU’s presidents when try were turbulent with student unrest he was appointed in 1962. Eight years over civil rights and the war in Vietnam. later, it was his responsibility to steer the In the spring of 1968, massive student University through this era of turmoil. protests at Columbia University resulted in violent intervention by the NYPD. On May In 1970, the University still had two cam- 4, 1970, during protests at Kent State puses—University Heights in the Bronx University against President Richard and Washington Square. On May 4, Nixon’s escalation of the war, the Ohio several groups of strikers occupied the National Guard killed four unarmed Loeb Student Center at the Square. students and wounded nine others. The following day, strike groups also took 6 In response, students went on strike, over Kimball Hall and Warren Weaver 7 shutting down more than 450 university, Hall, home to the Courant Institute of college, and high school campuses across Mathematical Sciences. Warren Weav- the country. The sometimes-violent pro- er Hall housed a $3.5 million computer, tests involved more than four million owned by the Atomic Energy Commis- students. Outraged by their universities’ sion and leased by NYU—a symbol to the collaboration with the government on mil- protesters of University collusion with itary projects, students turned their anger the military. on what was often the nearest military facility—college and university Reserve A strike coordinating committee present- Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) offic- ed its conditions to the University admin- es. Thirty ROTC buildings were burned istration. Holding the computer hostage, or bombed. There were violent clashes the strikers demanded ransom money of between students and police at 26 $100,000 to be used as bail for impris- schools, and National Guard units were oned Black Panthers, members of the Af- mobilized on 21 campuses in 16 states. rican American revolutionary organization. JIM SIDNEY JIM HESTER: We refused to do it. We went up SIDNEY BOROWITZ: It was only the bravery of HESTER BOROWITZ to the computer. There was a hole in the floor Peter Lax that prevented a catastrophe. He went President from Chancellor and under the door with a burning fuse leading into the computer room while the electrical 1962–75; Profes- Executive Vice BACK sor of History from President from into the room. lead that would destroy it was sizzling. 1960–74; Dean 1972–76; Provost The building was occupied by hundreds of of the Graduate at the Heights students. The street was swarming. If the bomb JIM HESTER: Fortunately, we got there just in School of Arts from 1971–72; and Science and Dean of University had gone off in that building, which is largely time. It was very close to an enormous tragedy. Executive Dean of College of Arts FROM THE glass, it would have been catastrophic. the Faculty of Arts and Science at President Hester was determined to avoid and Science from the Heights from CATHLEEN MORAWETZ: 1960–62 1969–72; Profes- The computer was very the violence that had consumed other sor of Physics from big. It occupied the whole floor where the campuses. CATHLEEN 1950–76 (Chair physics department is. MORAWETZ from 1961–69); JIM HESTER: Director of the PhD, Graduate We’d had the experience of watch- BRINK Courant Institute School of Arts and RICHARD THORSEN: It was a CDC 6600. There ing what happened at Columbia in the spring from 1984–88; Science, 1948; were only two in the country. The IRS had one, of 1968, when the police came on campus and Associate Director MS, Graduate and then Deputy School of Arts and and the Atomic Energy Commission had the manhandled the students. Director of Courant Science, 1940 one at NYU. In the end, I don’t believe the police ever laid from 1978–84; 1970 Professor of their hands on an NYU student. Mathematics from PETER LAX: I was the director of the computing 1957–93 (Chair center. I could smell smoke, so I said, “Let’s run SIDNEY BOROWITZ: Hester was terrific. He was from 1981–84); Research Asso- up and see what’s going on.” among the students, out in Washington Square ciate at Courant What was going on was a homemade fuse Park, on the front lines. At times he was vilified, from 1952–57; that was lit. insulted, and harassed. PhD, Courant, 8 1951 The fuse was connected to flammable liquids 9 KATHLEEN on the computer. Two of my younger colleagues KATHLEEN WEIL-GARRIS BRANDT: I was a young WEIL-GARRIS jumped in and stomped on it. faculty member then. Hester came across as RICHARD BRANDT THORSEN Afterwards, my wife said, “Are you crazy?” having a steady hand at the tiller. Very confi- Professor of Fine Vice President for Arts at the Institute dence-inspiring. Academic Affairs of Fine Arts and at Polytechnic College of Arts and University from Science since 1965 2006–08 and at NYU-Poly since 2008; Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the Heights from 1964–73, at Poly- technic University from 1973–2008, and at NYU-Poly since 2008; PhD, the Heights, 1967

The explosive device placed at Courant’s PETER CDC 6600 computer. LAX Left: The trail left Professor of by the bomb’s fuse. Mathematics from Above: Explosive 1951–99; Director materials. Opposite: of the Courant Close-up of Institute from the bomb inside 1972–80; PhD, the computer. Courant, 1949; BA, Courant, 1947 SIDNEY BOROWITZ: Hester is one of the loves of GABE Mayor and NYU my life and has been from the moment I met CARRAS alum Ed Koch Associate Dean RUSS walks through him. He was just what the University needed. for Faculty Affairs HAMBERGER Hell’s Kitchen, at Steinhardt from Director, Assistant 1978. GABE CARRAS: The composition of our student 1982–2002; Chancellor, and Assistant Dean then Assistant body was broad. It was not like the student and then Dean Provost for Aca- body at Columbia, which tended to be more of Students demic Program middle and upper-middle class, with a large at Steinhardt Review since 1976; from 1977–82; held positions in number of more radical types. Professor of Social Academic Affairs Our students were from the metropolitan Studies Education and Student Affairs area and took these things in stride. I don’t from 1960–80; from 1970–76; PhD, Steinhardt, held positions at think they were less critical of the war in Viet- 1959; MA, Stein- Steinhardt from nam or civil rights. But they were not going to hardt, 1952; BS, 1965–69; MA, go overboard in challenging authority. Steinhardt, 1951 Steinhardt, 1963

RUSS HAMBERGER: They weren’t really that hard core. I remember they were picketing around the Main Building. Then, at 12, they took a lunch break—not what I envision one does when one’s a picket. Materials used to construct the bomb. JIM HESTER: It was a bad time for higher education. A lot of people were turned off by 10 the radical students and what they thought 11 were weak-kneed administrators who didn’t JAY call the police and lock them up immediately. OLIVA “BROKE So there was a diminution in enthusiasm and President from generosity toward colleges and universities. 1991–2002; Chancellor and There was also a tremendous waste of time Executive Vice AND DIRTY” spent on anticipating what the students would President for Aca- do. We were obsessed with avoiding violence, demic Affairs from 1983–91; Provost New York City in the Early 1970s MARTY LIPTON: and that detracted from what we needed to be MARTY and Executive John Sexton loves the expression doing to build the University. LIPTON Vice President for “in and of the city.” If ever there was a time However, it was a fact of life. Most of us began Chair of the NYU Academic Affairs when the University was in and of the city, Board of Trustees from 1980–83; to question the Vietnam War, so we had great since 1998 Vice President for As New York City struggled into the decade it was the late ’60s and early ’70s. Year after difficulty condemning the students for having (member since Academic Affairs of the 1970s, so did NYU. Dependent on year, a failure of political leadership. Major the same feeling. 1975); member of from 1977–80; tuition and without a deep endowment, businesses continually moving out. High-end the NYU Langone Vice President for The good that came out of it was a greater Medical Center Academic Planning NYU had to take drastic measures. employment reduced. Tax revenues reduced. unification of the various parts of the University. Board of Trustees and Services from City services deteriorating, crime increasing, The involvement of the faculty and students in since 1997; Chair 1975–77; Deputy Dirty, dangerous and destitute was how New all of which affected the University. of the Law School Vice Chancellor the Senate was amazing and brought a sense of York came to be described in the 1970s. Entire Board of Trustees from 1970–75; city blocks were abandoned, and crime was on the purpose that the University had lacked before. from 1988-98 Dean of Faculty at rise. Robberies in the metropolitan area more than JAY OLIVA: There were folks in the ’60s and early I give the period of student unrest credit for (member since the Heights from tripled, from 28,182 cases in 1965 to a staggering ’70s who said it was the twilight of the gods, the 1972); President 1971–72; Asso- bringing the University together. 97,682 cases in 1971…. Almost a million people, end of New York as a great world city. We were of the Law Alumni ciate Dean and PDQ\RIWKHPPLGGOHFODVVÀHGWKHFLW\«PDQ\ Association from then Vice Dean at moving to the safer and wealthier suburbs with broke and dirty, and people didn’t want to come 1973–75; Adjunct the Heights from many companies following suit. here to learn or perform or do business. And it is Professor of Law 1969–71; Profes- true that the reputation of New York University from 1959–78; sor of History from —ALLAN TANNENBAUM, NEW YORK IN THE 70S: LLB, Law, 1955 1960–2002 A REMEMBRANCE, 2004 follows the reputation of the city of New York. SYLVIA BARUCH: When I moved down here in Continued Hassles SYLVIA OPEN ADMISSIONS 1973, people didn’t want to live in the Village. BARUCH in Wash. Sq. Park Deputy Chancellor Getting an apartment was really easy, in and Vice President “ WHO WILL BUY?” Washington Square Village or any place Greenwich Village Congressman Edward Koch for Planning from in University housing. last year made a commitment to increasing secu- 1988–96; Vice rity in the park, asking NYU President Hester for Chancellor from his help. In a letter to the Democratic congressman 1983–88; Assis- JIM HESTER: New York City, when I came in dated October 19, 1971, Hester said he would be tant Provost and 1960, was still on a high. But it was rapidly pleased to work with Koch in whatever way he then Vice Provost could “to insure that Washington Square Park is from 1980–83; deteriorating. The crime rate was going up. policed and maintained in a responsible manner.” held positions in Stories about muggings went all around the Since then, NYU has installed new lighting in the academic policy country, particularly through talk shows at neighboring area and Koch has been mugged. from 1973–80; According to the congressman’s account of the Assistant Dean night on television and radio. incident, which he read into the Congressional RUSS HAMBERGER: At NYU, there were probably and other Record, a threatening-looking individual stopped positions in the some pockets of undergraduate and profession- “Every time Johnny Carson opens his mouth Koch as he was walking through the park shortly about the city,” says one educator, “we can scratch dean’s office at DAVID DAVID ROBINSON: NYU’s endowment, when I al excellence. But when CUNY went to open after 6 pm last May 4 and demanded a quarter. the Heights from another student off the recruiting list.” ROBINSON came in 1967, was $100 million. Fifty million enrollment, the administration felt we couldn’t Koch says that when he refused the man said, 1970–73; MPA, NYU’s out-of-state enrollment has dropped from “Give me a quarter or I am going to beat the *!*! Vice President for was in the medical school, and $25 million exist as an expensive, mediocre school. 20.5% of the student body in 1970 to 10.2%. Wagner, 1974; BA, Academic Affairs out of you,” to which Koch replied, “No, I am the Heights, 1964 was in the Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine. Congressman Koch and I am going to have you ar- from 1967-70 —JULY 1, 1972: BUSINESS WEEK rested.” Koch said he then looked for a policeman TOM NYU needed tuition income to survive. TOM FRUSCIANO: Now you’re being more LQWKHSDUNZDVXQVXFFHVVIXODQG¿QDOO\VWRSSHG FRUSCIANO selective in your student enrollments, you’re JIM HESTER: NYU was fighting an uphill battle a police car on Fifth Avenue. University Archivist NANCY CRICCO: City College was a very good not letting in as many because you have these NANCY from 1981–89 to attract students from out of town because —NOVEMBER 14, 1972: WASHINGTON SQUARE JOURNAL CRICCO alternative to New York University’s private standards, so you’re not getting that high the city was being condemned by its own University Archivist university tuition. Just at a time when NYU volume of students—and tuition. since 1992 bad behavior. needed to make sure that its enrollment didn’t Hester personally had to go to Albany when 12 go down, when cost cutting was absolutely finances really looked bleak. His argument was: 13 JAY OLIVA: NYU drew traditionally from the an issue, City University switched its policy to How could you, the state, not support a private 17 counties around New York. If you had a open enrollment. institution that serves the public? choice in that era of going into the city from those 17 counties or going out to Penn State or In the early 1970s, NYU’s tuition was SIDNEY BOROWITZ: I know the incident that to Maryland, you made the choice to go out. $2,450 a year. City University of New York caused the University to pay attention. NYU The reputation of the city was in absolute was now open to anyone who had gradu- used to run its fiscal matters in the following shambles. ated high school—and free. way: In June, they would go broke. Then they would borrow money from their bankers, JAY OLIVA: When a city university decides to do and that would tide them over through the that, what is the role of New York University? summer. In the fall, tuition money would come Our enrollments began to plummet. in, and they would last until the next June.

ABE New York University: ABE GITLOW: The banks typically gave NYU GITLOW A Major Private Institution in Trouble bridge loans so we could continue operations A Report and Recommendations to the Dean of Stern in August. [In the summer of 1971] they from 1965–85; President of New York University Professor of decided we were in too bad a financial Economics It is well known that the City University of New condition to give us the loan. at Stern from York levies no tuition charges on students. State 1947–89; Special University’s tuition rates of $400 per year (more Assistant to the recently $550) are also quite easily met by most MARTY LIPTON: As we got to 1970-71, the Office of the families. There can be little doubt that efforts by University was at the brink of insolvency. We President from NYU to increase its income via the tuition route sold a number of buildings around Washington 1986–89 are self-defeating. With alternatives so attractive, Square, which would be fabulous if we had Dean Abe Gitlow who will buy? with new students them today. We owned One Fifth Avenue and —NOVEMBER 1971 at orientation. other buildings. Unfortunately, they went. GRASS vs. GRIT THE HEIGHTS AND THE SQUARE

7KHKLVWRU\RIWKHXQLYHUVLW\IRUWKH¿UVWKXQGUHG \HDUVLVVWXGGHGZLWKRQHFOLIIKDQJLQJ¿QDQFLDO crisis after another. Proposals to close the school were often the order of the day, but always a miracle happened just in time and a few dollars scraped from somewhere staved off disaster for a few more months.

–J. VICTOR BALDRIDGE, POWER AND CONFLICT IN THE Students in front UNIVERSITY, 1971 of the Hall of Fame for Great In 1892, Columbia University trustees Americans at the Heights campus. 14 approached the University of the City of 15 New-York, as NYU was then known, to con- sider the possibility of a merger between JIM HESTER: When Chancellor MacCracken the two institutions. While Chancellor moved the liberal arts college and the Henry Mitchell MacCracken saw the engineering school to University Heights, financial advantages of such a partner- he thought he was taking the heart of the ship (Columbia College operated with University out of the city, leaving behind a a six-figure profit; the University, with a more urban-oriented institution, with the six-figure deficit), he was reluctant to give School of Law, the School of Medicine, the up his institution’s autonomy. College of Dentistry, and the School of Education, or Pedagogy, as it was called. Instead, he returned to an earlier idea, which was to establish an “uptown” cam- JAY OLIVA: The Heights was the place where pus. MacCracken relocated the under- the University expected to move in the 1890s, graduate college to University Heights, in leaving just a little module at the Square. the pastoral countryside of what is now It had a wonderful design by Stanford White the Bronx. He hired noted architect Stan- and his company. Very bucolic, lots of green ford White, of the legendary firm McKim, grass, beautiful, classic architecture. Football Mead & White, to design the new campus. and baseball on grand open fields. White’s father had attended New York University. JIM HESTER: They started another liberal arts college, which became Washington Square Col- lege, to accommodate people who were coming to the University by subway. But the heart of the University, in his mind, was the Heights campus. SYLVIA BARUCH: University College at the Heights urban complexity, diversity, lots of immigrant Fifth Avenue and RICHARD THORSEN: Hester would come was a very small school. It was designed around ambition. There was a night school that was 22nd Street. periodically, and he would remind us that a grassy square, fairly large. At one end of the quite central, more important than the day the Heights—and the engineering school in square, with its back to the river, was a beautiful school by far. particular—was the jewel in the NYU crown. old library with a rotunda, very classical, with a The Heights campus was the admired small domed ceiling. Behind that was a Hall of Fame college on a hill, like the Amhersts and the By the 1970s, the Bronx neighborhood that had the busts of famous Americans. Williamses of the world, an island of collegiate of the Heights campus, like New York City, life. Downtown, NYU, like all the great Europe- was deteriorating. In an era of sinking JAY OLIVA: We were enormously proud that we an universities, flows into the city. This is what enrollment, the University could no longer were the custodians of the United States Hall you’ll find in Paris, Vienna, Berlin, Italy. afford to maintain two campuses, dupli- of Fame. What I found out, of course, was that So there is this very American campus at the cating departments and faculties. almost no one knew that the Hall of Fame for Heights and a very European-like university Great Americans was at the Heights. If I said Hall downtown. SYLVIA BARUCH: The walk to the subway was of Fame to anybody, they said, “Cooperstown.” not so pretty. It was Jerome Avenue’s train stop, JIM HESTER: The Heights was more like a college down a hill, and you felt like you were leaving SYLVIA BARUCH: I was in the first class of women in the country, somewhere in Ohio, than it was one town to go to another. The Heights was very at the Heights, in 1959. There was a fair amount in New York City. isolated from its community. of snobbery at the time—that the Heights cam- pus was much better than the Square campus. JAY OLIVA: The Heights campus was the custo- JILL CLASTER: In a lot of ways, its time was over. dian of the gymnasium, and the Square had It had been an all-male school, which very JILL CLASTER: The Cadillac campus for NYU was none. Even when we were playing big-time ath- JILL reluctantly let some women in because they the Heights. Washington Square did not have letics, the students who were downtown would CLASTER were losing money and felt they had to. The 16 that reputation at all. It was known that it have to come uptown to practice. Dean of the neighborhood went downhill. 17 College of Arts wasn’t hard to get into, and it didn’t measure We thought we were the hot-shot institution. and Science up academically to Columbia, Barnard, or the And the Square paid very little attention to us. from 1979–86; FRED ULFERS: It was the beginning of landlords’ City University. With the Ohio Field—the football field—we Professor of abandoning their buildings. The Bronx literally History from were the custodians also of the University gradu- 1964–2003; began to be on fire—because of the insurance NANCY CRICCO: A typical Washington Square ation. Commencement was held on our campus. MA, Graduate money to be had. And there were quite a few student might be a first-generation immigrant Once a year, everybody found out where we School of Arts and drug-infested streets surrounding the campus. Science, 1954; or a first-generation American-born son or were and had to figure out how to get there. BA, Washington daughter of immigrants who is commuting, Square College, FARHAD KAZEMI: I came here in 1971 from the most likely living at home, trying to get an edu- FRED ULFERS: The faculty was engaged in all 1952 University of Michigan. The NYU atmosphere cation, to get ahead, but without the financial kinds of things—orchestra and glee club. We had was absolutely crazy from any point of view. resources or the cultural acceptance of living in a lively theater. One time we hit upon the idea of There were, in effect, three departments of a residence hall away from the family. doing excerpts from Brecht’s Threepenny Opera. TOM politics. There was the Heights campus depart- If you were African American or a Jewish im- Faculty participated, students participated. BISHOP ment. There was a department at the Square, FRED migrant from Romania trying to work your way I was a street singer. It was glorious. Professor of which was my department. And there was a French and Com- ULFERS through school, you’d probably feel a whole lot parative Literature Associate graduate department, which you were not part more comfortable at Washington Square than JILL CLASTER: There was envy on the part of a since 1956; Chair Professor of of until after you achieved a certain degree of German since FARHAD you would at University Heights. lot of faculty down at the Square, because the of the Department academic importance. of French from 1962; Assistant KAZEMI Heights did have the reputation, and deserv- 1970–2003 Dean, College of Vice Provost and In department meetings, people were TOM BISHOP: But the Heights was fairly sleepy. I edly, of being this very special campus. It was Arts and Science then Vice Provost fighting constantly over issues of politics and from 1968–88; for Global Affairs can’t say that it was an extremely dynamic place. high-level, academic, achieving. And the engi- TOM PhD, Graduate from 1999–2003; Vietnam, over approaches to the discipline, neering school was a really wonderful school. BENDER School of Arts and Professor of and between those who were Marxist versus TOM BENDER: The main library was there, but There was a sense at the Square that the Professor of the Science, 1968; Politics and Middle non-Marxist. I don’t remember any department Humanities since MA, Graduate Eastern and there were more students downtown. And Heights people felt themselves to be part of this 1977; Professor of School of Arts and Islamic Studies meeting when I did not hit my head afterwards, downtown was really connected with the city— more elevated world. History since 1974 Science, 1961 since 1971 saying, “Why have I come here?” RICHARD THORSEN: Jim Hester and the chancellor, Allan Cartter, came up to the Heights campus. They called for a special meeting with the faculty. DAY OF President arrives, most faculty show up. It Jim Hester in front was a relatively rare occurrence, a couple of of Shimkin Hall. times a year at most. He must have something important to say. As negotiations began over the sale of the Bronx campus, Hester appointed a new committee con- RECKONING JAY OLIVA: It was our conviction at the Heights that sisting of six deans and gave it a sweeping job: to produce a plan (within 90 days) for saving NYU. if there was trouble, then those folks down at the “THE END “Hester and Cartter could have sat down and Square ought to take care of it, because we’re fine. 7.?1;0.=4<016316/º written that report in a weekend,” says one faculty member. “But getting the deans to do it, with the So when the sale of the Heights was old faculty committee looking over their shoulder, announced, it was a double shock. Academics— was a brilliant move.” especially in that era—operated on the principle

—DECEMBER 8, 1972: DEBORAH SHIPLEY, “NEW YORK that all kinds of things can close down, but UNIVERSITY: LEARNING TO LIVE WITH RED INK,” SCIENCE not universities. Universities have been living since 1312. LARRY LARRY TISCH: The board at a university, if it’s Add to it that New York City was up to TISCH an active board, has a lot of involvement—ap- its ears in trouble. The University needed Chair of the NYU proving the budget each year, lots of important resources, and this was the only piece of the Board of Trustees policies and decisions. place divisible from the rest. New York University has been heading for serious from 1978–98 ¿QDQFLDOWURXEOHDWDQDFFHOHUDWLQJUDWHIRUQHDUO\ (member from One of the major things we did was sell the 1966–2003); D GHFDGH 7KH 8QLYHUVLW\¶V WUXVWHHV DQG RI¿FHUV Heights campus. It was a very traumatic thing RICHARD THORSEN: The president announced member of the realized what was happening; they were deter- for NYU. Because it was really, for many years, that the Heights campus was being sold. And PLQHGWR¿JKWIRUJURZWKDQGH[FHOOHQFHQRWPHUH NYU Langone 18 survival; and they made strenuous efforts to turn Medical Center the best part of the University. left totally unanswered the question of “What 19 Board of Trustees things right…. becomes of the students and the faculty?” from 1997–2003; Within the next few weeks, New York University These efforts probably delayed the day of reck- SIDNEY BOROWITZ: The building of Tech II BS, Stern, 1942 must choose which of two precedents it will shat- Many people figured, “We’ll just move to oning, but they did not avert it. That day now is represented still another uncoordinated move. upon them. ter: It can choose to be the victim of the largest and Washington Square.” Others said, “If they’re I suspect that when the building was PRVWVSHFWDFXODU¿QDQFLDOFROODSVHLQWKHKLVWRU\ going to close this campus, I’ll move on.” —1972: FORD FOUNDATION REQUEST FOR GRANT ACTION conceived, the market for engineering students CARL of American higher education, or it can choose to The reality took a while to set in. Then it was bullish, whereas when the building was LEBOWITZ surmount, by its own resolute actions, the most Senior Counselor GLI¿FXOW ¿QDQFLDO FULVLV DQ\ XQLYHUVLW\ KDV IDFHG became the number one topic of discussion. completed [in 1970], it was bearish. and survived.... JIM HESTER: We started losing applications, so to the Dean at the School of What we cannot do is to operate as we have FRED ULFERS: we didn’t have as much income as we expected. Professional been doing on the basis of hopes or assertion that I was in Gould Memorial Library But our expenses stayed the way they were. JAY OLIVA: New York University’s always been Studies since salvation is “just around the corner.” What is just when President Hester came up to make that around the corner is insolvency, unless our imme- It was a case of deficits beginning to develop, a university with a very strong disposition 2009; Assistant announcement. We were all teary-eyed. Dean and then GLDWH DFWLRQV DUH VXI¿FLHQWO\ VZHHSLQJ UHVROXWH particularly at the Heights. to the professions. Kids who think about going Associate Dean and imaginative. The Heights was losing $4 million a year. into the professions, they fluctuate. If of the Office CARL LEBOWITZ: I became the acting dean of the — MAY 19, 1972: “THE REPORT OF THE NEW YORK UNI- We had very little endowment. We just somebody announces that they’re not hiring of Faculty and VERSITY TASK FORCE ON THE FINANCIAL EMERGENCY” School of Continuing Education during that pe- Academic Services couldn’t afford that. engineers at IBM next year, students stop at the School riod. I remember going to a Sunday Senate meet- applying to engineering. of Professional ABE GITLOW: We came in with all these recom- ing. They told us they were selling the Heights— Lacking expected tuition income, Hester had to Studies from mendations: reduce the retirement age from which was, of course, a very radical move. start delving into NYU’s capital to cover the ex- 1997–2009; penses of his building program and other costs of … This is a time of crisis for higher education, and held other 68 to 65, drop the School of Social Work, merge Nobody ever called us in on Sunday. It was the 1960s. Tech II, on the [Heights] campus, had New York University unfortunately is a bellwether administrative Arts and Science faculty, merge business that momentous. been planned for about 1000 engineering students; institution in that drama. positions at school faculty. by April 1972, that group numbered 120. Sedg- the School of The report should give a new sense of urgency wick dormitory, completed in 1968, had one-third James M. Hester Professional Dropping the School of Social Work didn’t to the debate over the higher education aid bill in of its beds empty within 3 years. Allan M. Cartter Studies beginning come to pass, because someone showed up with Washington. in 1965; PhD, about $1 million. Then Shirley Ehrenkrantz N.Y.U.’s Hester said bluntly: “This is the end of —DECEMBER 8, 1972: DEBORAH SHIPLEY, “NEW YORK —APRIL 17, 1972: “DIMENSIONS OF THE Steinhardt, 1966; wishful thinking.” UNIVERSITY: LEARNING TO LIVE WITH RED INK,” SCIENCE FINANCIAL PROBLEM FACING N.Y.U.” MS, Stern, 1956; became the dean and did a very fine job of BS, Stern, 1949 straightening out that school. —MAY 24, 1972: THE NEW YORK TIMES OP-ED PAGE GOODBYE TO RECLAIMING The leadership of Brooklyn Poly worked THE with Steingut to get legislation passed that ENGINEERING: mandated a merger between the engineering school of NYU and Poly of Brooklyn. CITY THERE IS STILL NO CAMPUS “IT’S PAYBACK TIME” The leverage the legislature had was that if LIKE NEW YORK CITY. NYU didn’t go along with this, they would not approve the sale of the Heights campus to the After next year, it is likely that all of our under- Now a decision had to be made about the City University [as a prospective site for Bronx graduate schools will be consolidated at Washing- ton Square. fate of NYU’s School of Engineering, locat- Community College]. Going to school here is the antithesis of the Ivory ed at the Heights. If Poly didn’t go along with it, they would Tower. let NYU set up shop downtown and compete Our classrooms are charged with the dynamism RICHARD THORSEN: of the city. You step out of your classroom and you From the announcement to with them. step out into the real world. There is no place to the time it was closed at the end of the 1972-73 Needless to say, it was to the advantage of hide from the problems of society. academic year, there was a lot of discussion both institutions to try to work this out. It is not an easy school to go to, but it is worth it. Some students can’t handle it, and they trans- about the future of the engineering school. I was one of three faculty members from fer out. But many others transfer in to NYU from At one point, the thought was to move the NYU who were part of the merger process. more secluded campuses, because they have dis- school to Washington Square. Then politics got Everybody was very collegial and cordial, but covered that what they want is what we and New York City have to offer. in the way. Very interesting politics—New York tough lines were being drawn. For even with its problems—and there are State, New York City politics. many—New York is still the most exciting and Poly [Brooklyn Polytechnic] is five subway SIDNEY BOROWITZ: Brooklyn Poly was unionized; stimulating city in the world, and New York Uni- versity is the very essence of it. stops on the A train from Washington Square. NYU was not unionized. How do you deal JAY OLIVA: New York University’s reputation was You had two engineering schools, comparable with that? Faculty salaries of NYU were some- 20 very low. A lot of the arguments that emerged in We take our stand in size using almost any metric—size of the thing like 20 percent higher than they were 21 with New York City. that era, even after we moved down to the Square student body, number of faculty, amount of at Brooklyn Poly. How do you join those depart- in 1973, were, “Shouldn’t we change the name of James M. Hester, President research. Very, very comparable schools that ments together? the University, because we’re perceived as either would wind up in each other’s backyard. I remember meetings that lasted 24 hours. —MAY 30, 1972: THE NEW YORK TIMES, FULL-PAGE AD the main campus of City University or a branch of ANNOUNCING THE SALE OF THE HEIGHTS CAMPUS Poly was going through its own financial diffi- It was one of the most difficult times of my life. the State University.” culties and did not react very favorably to having People actually made these arguments in SIDNEY BOROWITZ: The law was passed a similar institution competing with it. It was In 1973, NYU’s School of Engineering good faith and without a smile on their faces. permitting the sale of the Heights campus in one thing to be up in the Bronx, another thing merged with Polytechnic Institute of I vividly remember open discussions about, May of 1972, and I assumed the chancellorship to be across the river in downtown Manhattan. Brooklyn to become Polytechnic Institute “Shouldn’t we think of a way to distinguish of the University in June of 1972. Hester of New York. ourselves from the city?” decided that the University was in such bad SIDNEY BOROWITZ: The year before this crisis, LARRY LARRY SILVERSTEIN: We used to produce documents that had shape financially—they were about to go SILVERSTEIN Nelson Rockefeller was governor. He needed Of course, once that pictures of the only tree you could see. You bankrupt—that he would have to appoint the Member of the somebody to help him get his budget through. happened, a whole group of engineering would shoot the tree with the building behind chancellor from the people he knew. NYU Board of He appealed to the guy who was the head of the alumni felt themselves disenfranchised. They Trustees since it and hope that people noticed the greenery. 1973 (Vice Chair lower house of the legislature. The guy whipped suddenly lost their school and they lost their Then you would shoot the same tree with the RUSS HAMBERGER: My understanding is we from 1998–2006); up enough Democrats to pass the budget. campus. Thereafter they wanted nothing to other side of the Square and pray to God that were a week away from not meeting the payroll. member of the The next year, when we were going broke, do with the University. NYU Langone some of the flowers planted around the thing And the endowment was basically used up. Medical Center this angel said, “Now it’s payback time.” The Every time the University approached them would get in the picture outside the library. Board of Trustees payback was to eliminate the School of Engi- to become supporters, they had no interest, The idea was, “You’ll be in the city, but don’t JAY OLIVA: I was the last dean of the Heights since 1998; neering at University Heights and transfer it to always referring to the fact that their school Washington Adjunct Professor worry, you won’t notice.” when they announced they were selling the Square Park. of Real Estate Brooklyn Polytech—he was a Brooklyn man. was sold down the river. But then the decision was, “Forget it! It’s place. I always said, “That was the equivalent at the School They could never fully appreciate the fact New York! You come here, what you see is what of being named the captain of the Titanic after of Professional RICHARD THORSEN: The politics of the situation that the University had to divest itself of the Studies from you’re going to get. You don’t want that? Don’t they hit the iceberg. ‘Congratulations! You’re 1969–98; BA, the was that Stanley Steingut was the speaker of the School of Engineering to make possible the sale come here! We’re not tricking you anymore.” going to love this job!’” Heights, 1952 assembly. Poly was in his district. of the Heights campus. JOHN RICHARD “TAKING THAT CURE” DESANTIS SCHECHNER Director of Techni- Professor of Perfor- cal Services and mance Studies at Special Projects Tisch since 1967 A Time To Conclude… at the Faculty of … A Time To Renew Arts and Science since 1979; held ALAN « 7KH +HLJKWV 1HZV¶ ¿QDO HGLWRULDO PHVVDJH FAREWELL technical positions MENKEN then, is neither praise nor blame, but a mixed bag at the Depart- Composer; Hon- RIUHÀHFWLRQVDQGDJXDUGHGH[SUHVVLRQRIKRSH ment of Physics orary Doctorate, at Washington 2000; BA, the Good luck. TO THE HEIGHTS Heights, 1972 Square College and the Heights —MAY 9, 1973: THE HEIGHTS DAILY NEWS, FINAL ISSUE from 1964–79; The Heights campus, designed BE, the Heights, JAY OLIVA: The last commencement, 1973, the 1970 by McKim, Mead, and White. students hung the place in mourning and in black. They were singing ’60s protest songs. A A year ago the University was suffering from a JOHN DESANTIS: We were actually heartbroken. sense of betrayal because you couldn’t figure SURJUHVVLYH ¿QDQFLDO GLVHDVH ZH VHHPHG XQDEOH We loved the campus. out why this had to be. to halt.  7KHDFKLHYHPHQWRIWKHSDVW\HDULVWKDWDGLI¿- cult but feasible cure has been found. We are in the JIM HESTER: It felt as though I was asked to sell FRED ULFERS: I was sad myself. What a wonder- midst of taking that cure. my brother. ful place we had and lost. But there was no way –SEPTEMBER 21, 1972: “THE PRESENT STATE OF NEW out. Keeping that campus was unsustainable. YORK UNIVERSITY,” PRESIDENT JAMES M. HESTER DATE: March 20, 1973 $PRQJ WKH ¿UVW RI WKH YLFWLPV KDV EHHQ WKH TO: The New York University Community SIDNEY BOROWITZ: It is unfortunate that a per- Heights Daily News. For 39 years it stood as the FROM: President James M. Hester son should feel his college is a piece of ground. smallest college daily publication in the country, 22 a distinction we carried proudly. For want of sev- I do not believe that the Heights alumni have a 23 After months of complicated negotiations, eral thousand dollars and because of a well-timed right to say whether it was necessary or unnec- an agreement has been reached with the City shrug, that distinction is no longer ours to boast. essary, since they could not possibly be privy For the remainder of the year, the Heights Daily University Construction Fund on the price for News will publish on a three-day-a-week sched- the purchase of the University Heights campus. to all the ins and outs of what precipitated the ule. We apologize to those of you who care. move. The University would have gone under JIM HESTER: —SEPTEMBER 27, 1972: STUDENT NEWSPAPER: THE We got $72 million. Forty was without it. HEIGHTS DAILY NEWS used to pay off the debt on the buildings at JAY OLIVA: My job was to exit the campus. And the Heights. The remainder was put into the RICHARD SCHECHNER: I did not look at the to try to convince as many students as I could to endowment of the University. sale as a crisis. NYU’s greatness is to take finish their degree at the Square. the disadvantage and make an advantage. I didn’t have time to weep under the willow. SIDNEY BOROWITZ: Jim took a calculated risk, It’s very New York. The number of students piled up in the hallway which turned out for the most part to be felic- to find out what the hell was going to happen to itous. He decided he was going to improve the NANCY CRICCO: Washington Square turned them, where they could transfer to, and was this resources of New York University and not worry out to be a much better location all the way going to hurt their chances of getting into medi- too much about the long-range economic conse- around. It’s more interesting, more stimulat- cal school: You were trying to prevent chaos. quences, because somebody—God or the govern- ing, more vibrant. ment or alumni or financiers—would provide. TOM FRUSCIANO: If you talk to people who ALAN MENKEN: Since then, NYU at the Square went to the Heights, and they’re still around, TOM BISHOP: Hester managed to negotiate the has become such a dynamic institution and they were extremely upset when they sold the very traumatic sale of the Heights campus. so much a part of the life of New York City campus. That was their NYU. Forty million doesn’t sound like much today, that it’s more than compensated for the loss but it was an enormous amount of money. It of the Heights. made the difference between life and death. LARRY TISCH: It really helped us launch the NYU that you see today. FRED ULFERS: Moving down to the Square was TOM BENDER: I was hired at the Square in the an adjustment. People were generally very field of urban history. Just before I arrived was welcoming. Finding offices for everyone was the fiscal crisis of NYU. difficult, but we managed by partitioning They literally fired every assistant professor, offices that had been larger before. certainly every assistant professor in the history I never felt a sense of acrimony, of “Why are department. But the administration said, they coming down here to take away jobs?” There “We’re willing to hire an assistant professor in was a spirit of generosity, of we can work that out. urban history because of our commitment to But there was one funny thing. At the Square, New York City.” all course numbers were preceded by a W, for That was my great opportunity. Washington Square. At University College in the One of the things that would soon change Heights, all courses were prefixed with a U. is that people started asking more of them- What to do? We didn’t want to give up the U selves and of the institution. That was a really for the sake of the W. important shift. The glorious decision was made to meet in DAVE the middle. And what’s the middle between W DAVE MCLAUGHLIN: To have New York University MCLAUGHLIN and U? It’s a V—so that one could not say Wash- in one location at the Square was the right Provost since ington Square lost or University College lost. structure then. 2002; Director of the Courant For a long time, all courses at the Square Institute from were prefixed with a V. JILL CLASTER: The Square was becoming more 1994–2002; and more vital. Professor of Mathematics since 1994 and of TOM BENDER: NYU was a rather unique place in 24 Neural Science that it had some of the strongest departments 25 since 2000; Assistant around and some of the weakest. The strong Professor at departments had some history behind them, like Courant from the Courant Institute or the Institute of Fine Arts. 1970–72

FOCUS ON THE SQUARE In the Courant Institute lounge. JIM JIM MCCREDIE: We were physically separate MCCREDIE from the rest of NYU, in the old Doris Duke TRANSFORMING Friederichs paid a lot of attention to making Director of the house up on 78th Street, across from the Institute of the lounge as attractive as possible. Fine Arts from Metropolitan Museum. THE BOARD People exchange ideas informally. If two 1983–2002; people look at a problem, each sees one side Professor at KATHLEEN WEIL-GARRIS BRANDT: The Institute “I GUESS the Institute of of it, which added together can solve it. Fine Arts from of Fine Arts had been organized very quickly, There’s always some bustling excitement. 1963–2002 on an ad hoc basis, to bring Jewish refugee WE DO HAVE A scholars out of Europe. As Walter Cook, the RESPONSIBILITY” DAVE MCLAUGHLIN: My life as a research math- first director of the institute, said often, “Hitler ematician completely changed because of the shook the tree, and I gathered all the apples.” collaborative atmosphere that Courant is known INSTITUTE OF FINE ARTS for. We had a group of applied mathematicians, JIM MCCREDIE: It was almost immediately the many of them junior, who taught at the Heights GATHERING leading institution in the history of art in the campus in the Bronx and did our research at the world, made up of these émigrés from Europe. Courant Institute on Washington Square. That THE APPLES We were aware of the fact that we were the group of approximately 20 worked together with most distinguished part of the University. JIM HESTER: A lot of the trustees were very dis- incredible excitement and intensity. There were visiting professors from all over tinguished people in the business community When they sold the Heights, most of us— the country. Walter Cook paid for them, he who had not gone to NYU but had been selected certainly those who were untenured in the said, by passing the hat. because of their fame. They did not look upon PURE & APPLIED math department—had to leave NYU. It was very The institute has always been of doubtful it as their responsibility to raise money for the disappointing. These applied mathematicians financial stability but managed to pull through. University. That was done by tuition.

The undergraduate School of Commerce, NYU’s master plan called for a change in TISCH HALL Accounts and Finance had been estab- paradigm—a profound transformation lished on Washington Square in 1900. intellectually, curriculum, faculty standings, Once a reliable source of tuition funds, student body, the whole works. with thousands of students during the day and at night, it had now run aground. BILL BERKLEY: Abe was a get-it-done person. BILL ABE GITLOW: I really can’t claim the credit for You worked hard, he had lots of time for you. BERKLEY Tisch Hall. That was Jim Hester’s decision. ABE GITLOW: When Jim Hester was president, the You were a slouch, he had no time for you. Vice Chair of the NYU Board of School of Commerce was in terrible trouble. The I ended up going to NYU because I got finan- Trustees since JIM HESTER: Larry Tisch had gone to the business trustees had voted to discontinue the school. It cial aid. I had two, sometimes three jobs. There 2004 (member school. When we were looking for a donor for the had been a huge operation and a major cash cow was no time for anything but studying and since 1995); Chair new school of business, he was a natural. of the Stern Board for the University, a so-called school of opportuni- working. My life was getting as many classes as of Overseers since When we broke ground on that building, the ty. Which means it was easy to get in. I could and working toward graduating in three 2000 (member Tisches were all there—Larry and his brother Not so easy to graduate. As I later discovered, years. So I went summers and nights. since 1987); and his mother. member of the by the third year approximately 70 percent of When I entered, Commerce was the preem- NYU Langone those admitted were no longer there. inent school for accountants. The Big Eight Medical Center BILLIE TISCH: Larry felt very keenly that he owed Concurrently, the City University of New York came and hired a huge percentage of the class. Board of Trustees something back to the University, and the need since 2007; BS, 28 changed from a highly selective institution to The school had unbelievable accounting Stern, 1966 was there. Tisch Hall was the first named gift 29 a mass admission, free-tuition institution. The departments, probably the best in the country. Larry and Bob gave. economic foundation for the mass-admission But Dean Gitlow said, “If you’re going to model at the School of Commerce died there. go into business, you need to understand LARRY TISCH: I got involved in 1961, ’62. There The student body was collapsing. From marketing and management. You need to have was a dinner for a professor, Marcus Nadler. 10,000, with 8,000 in attendance, it was down a good, fundamental grasp of economics. I went because he was a great professor—a to 2,500. Half of them were evening students. And you can no longer be focused only on brilliant, brilliant professor of finance. He was By 1972, seven years after I became dean, it graduating to become an accountant.” really the big star at NYU. was down to 1,000. Then the idea was, How do I was asked to go on the board a year or you take advantage of adversity? ERNEST KURNOW: The reason Abe was successful so later. in changing the direction of the school was ERNEST KURNOW: The goal of the School of that he listens not only to things that people ERNEST In 1972, Tisch Hall, designed by Philip Commerce was to make sure that when know he’d like to hear, but also to good KURNOW Johnson and Richard Foster, opened at students graduated, they’d be able to get a job. disagreements. Abe has the ability to make Professor of 40 West Fourth Street to house the under- Business Statistics The education was very narrowly gauged for people want to follow him. at Stern from graduate college of the renamed College specific interests instead of giving students a 1948–86 (Chair of Business and Public Administration. l to r: Larry Tisch, broad cultural background, the ability to think. ABE GITLOW: Ernie, who’s a statistician, said he from 1963–75); PhD, Stern, 1951 Bob Tisch, and Jim knew how things were because if they were bad, Hester. The College of Business and Public Administra- tion received high marks this summer when it was ABE GITLOW: There was a time in the old days I would use percentages: If we went from one recognized as one of the top ten undergraduate when the arts and science college would not student to two, I would tell everybody we had a business colleges in the country. recognize the grades given to their students who 100-percent increase. But if I came in and said, According to BPA Dean Abraham L. Gitlow, the survey is “substantial and rewarding evidence” took courses in the business school. They felt the “We have 150 new students,” he knew we were BILLIE that 15 years of sustained and coherent effort in grades were not worth it—a B was not a B. really on the march. TISCH faculty and curriculum development has really Wife of Larry Tisch; paid off. Honorary Doctorate, 2006 –OCTOBER 9, 1980: TERRY LAMPHIER, NYU REPORT SYLVIA BARUCH: David Oppenheim, the second RED dean, was a remarkable man. He had been a BURNS vice president at Columbia Records. He was Chair of the Inter- a world-class clarinet player, fabulous active Telecommu- nications Program administrator, fabulous developer of the school. at Tisch since In the ’70s, the School of the Arts was 1983; Co-Founder practically—this is only a minor exaggeration— DAVID and Director of the OPPENHEIM Alternate Media held in the stairwells of the School of Educa- Dean of the Tisch Center at Tisch FIGURE IT OUT tion. There were no classrooms. There were School from since 1971; Com- no offices. There was nothing. 1969–91; Profes- munity Media Co- sor of Performing ordinator at Tisch THE ALTERNATE MEDIA CENTER But building a school from scratch is really Arts from 1969-92 from 1970–71 a difficult thing. He had the vision, he had the 1971 passion, he had the good sense. GEORGE STONEY RICHARD SCHECHNER: David really would listen Professor of Film to people he respected, even if they didn’t have MARY SCHMIDT at Tisch from the administrative power. He was top down in CAMPBELL 1970–2010; Chair Dean of the Tisch of the Undergradu- sympathy with the bottom up. School since ate Department of GEORGE STONEY: When I came back from Dean David JIM HESTER: NYU and its yeasty environment That’s a great gift—and rare. The core of the 1991; Professor of Film and Television Canada in 1970 as head of the undergraduate Oppenheim had an appeal to me that nothing could beat. School of the Arts was formed under him. Art and Public Pol- from 1970–72; division, Red Burns joined me. We decided with students. icy at Tisch since Director of the By yeasty, I meant it was a place where new 1999; Professor of Alternate Media that we wanted to continue what I had done in ideas had a chance to grow. SYLVIA BARUCH: One story I like to tell about the Arts at Tisch Center from RED BURNS: A friend took me down to the “Challenge for Change” in Canada, so we set up NYU is not overly concerned about being David: When Red Burns started here, David from 1991–99 1973–80 School of the Arts to look at a new camera. the Alternate Media Center. With a large grant strictly traditional. It was willing to experiment brought her in not to head a department but The camera was startling to me. It was a Sony from the Markle Foundation, we designed 30 with new subjects, new specialties. In the Village, something called the Alternate Media Center. Portapak, a very small, lightweight camera. a program of training for people starting in 31 we were surrounded by creative people. If any uni- I could never figure out what she was doing People didn’t need large boxes and crates to public access television in the cable locations versity should draw on the strength of the artistic there. There was so little done then on what she carry it around. They didn’t have to be profes- around the country. community in America, it should be NYU. was concerned about—public access, computing sionals. They could have their own voice. If people limit their activity to voting, they “WHY NOT And yet we did not have a school for training for disabled people—that I just couldn’t get it. Red Burns with There were then three networks: ABC, NBC, can’t influence public policy. But if they can actors, dancers, filmmakers, directors—and we had She’d been here a couple of years when I said to her new camera. CBS. To get access to them was ridiculous. You make films about their concerns and put them US?” the perfect place to do it. It didn’t require enormous David one day, “What is it that Red is really doing?” couldn’t. Suddenly came this camera, and I on television, they find there’s a whole commu- physical facilities, and we had the people. He looked me straight in the eye and said, thought, “Wow, this has such possibilities.” nity out there of people who agree with them. It was a time in higher education when all “I don’t really know, Sylvia. But when the world Then a friend of mine said, “Why don’t you Before long, you can influence what the over the country schools of the arts were being is ready for her, Red will be there.” go talk to David Oppenheim?” legislature does. created. We thought, “If other people can have That’s the kind of vision he had. When I told him I was fascinated by this cam- a school of the arts, why not us?” era, he said, “Why don’t you just hang around RED BURNS: There was no money. That’s all INVENTING DAVID OPPENHEIM: I want to underline that the the School and see what you find?” you heard: There’s no money, there’s no money. RICHARD SCHECHNER: The School of the Arts was Tisch School does not put its stamp on anybody. I attached myself to George Stoney’s video NYU’s reputation was dismal. It was a very, very THE an idea, but it didn’t have much of a building. Its purpose is not to create clones or imitators of class and went out into the community and did uncheerful environment. But David Oppen- We were scattered around. Robert Corrigan, someone else’s style but people able to express what I was talking about—which was to train heim was brilliant at steering things through, the first dean, was able to take over 111 Second themselves in their own style. people, let people learn how to use cameras. and he was also brilliant at letting people think SCHOOL Avenue, which we still have. Ratner’s restaurant The students knew there was a street corner they were getting what they asked for. was on the bottom floor, and the Fillmore East MARY SCHMIDT CAMPBELL: He made it clear that that needed a traffic light. They couldn’t get the The wonderful thing about people who are OF THE was right next door. this was not going to be an academic school of city to listen, so I said, “Let’s go shoot the light.” creative is that as long as they have space and NYU did not have a very good reputation as an the arts. This was going to be a school where They took this video down to City Hall, excitement, they just do it. Sometimes we elite school. But Corrigan convinced me to come. working professionals teach. somehow got an audience, showed the tape, would goof, but the idea was to see how far you ARTS I didn’t need that much convincing. If The miracle is that the school was founded and they got a light. It was really empowering. could go with this kind of technology. I was going to work in the theater, New York in 1965, and within five years it was on the map. Students and communities: We began to I thought to myself, “This is the harbinger of was the place. David Oppenheim was the architect of that. develop. what’s to come.” FROM EMILY EMILY FOLPE: When the plans were presented, of FOLPE course the neighborhood went crazy, because Historian of it was a very tall building. There’d never been Washington BARE BULB Square; Adjunct anything that tall on the Square. The height of Assistant TOM BISHOP: Hester began it all. Not that most houses was four or five stories, and here Professor at before him there was nothing, but before him was something that was going to be 12 stories TO BOBST the School of Professional we thought of ourselves as—let’s be kind—a and take up the whole block. Studies since second-rate institution. People were upset because it would cast 1964-1973 2008 TOM BISHOP: Hester had different ideas. The shade on what was the southern part of the JIM HESTER: I was living about five blocks north principal one was that no university could have park where children played. There were all of here and working on my thesis for Oxford in the gall to call itself that without a library. kinds of demonstrations. my spare time. I wanted a university library to If we didn’t have a real library, we would What happens in Washington Square is that work in. So I came down and asked a very nice have gone down the drain. the community does have some leadership, lady if I could use the NYU library. people who are really able to galvanize support She said, “Follow me.” JIM HESTER: We wanted to get an outstanding and get together very effectively. She took me down a flight of stairs, under the architect, so that the building would be some- One of them was Jane Jacobs. Main Building [now the Silver Center]. Here was thing historically. Philip Johnson came up with a big, dark space with a bare light bulb hanging this idea of a large atrium that would allow U.S. HELD MISLED in it, one table and chair. That was it. users of the library to feel they were part of a ON N.Y.U. LIBRARY I never came back. campus. We wanted a visual realization of the community of scholars. Leader in ‘Village’ Charges New TOM BISHOP: Our library was two floors in the If you walk into the atrium, you see people %XLOGLQJ:LOO%H0DLQO\IRU2I¿FHV 32 Main Building—the basement and the ground working and the stacks all the way around. You 33 HOLLOW FORM IS CITED floor. Which, when you think of it today, is so can see scholars going about their task. That’s re- terrible that you can’t even be embarrassed by inforcing of your commitment to their academic %XW8QLYHUVLW\2I¿FLDO6D\V6WUXFWXUH it, because nobody believes it. life. And it made the building come alive. Will Be Used for its Stated Purpose We were very fortunate that George Murphy, By Edward C. Burks GABE CARRAS: It was dark, gloomy, no air. A the chairman of the board, was able to bring dumbwaiter brought books up from the stacks. Elmer Bobst into the picture. A Greenwich Village civic leader charged New The hallway on the second floor used to be filled Elmer Bobst had a great love of books. He was York University yesterday with including too with people waiting for their books to come up. largely self-educated, and he liked the idea of many fairy tales in its plans for a library on the south side of Washington Square. having a library named for him. He was a very The controversial 12-story building is intended JIM HESTER: The Main Building was a big bull imaginative and supportive man. And he was also only incidentally as a library and is really planned pen, a lot of little desks and chairs, no walls. No a very patient man, because when he made the as its main administrative building, Mrs. Jane Ja- cobs asserted, despite denials by N.Y.U. A group one was having a private conversation. It was gift in his late seventies, we had to wait another of Village organizations, hotly opposed to the like an office in a sales service establishment. six years before the building could be built. building plans, will press the Federal Government I learned that hardly ever in the history of the Johnson made a wonderful presentation “to look into this,” she said, “because N.Y.U. got a large hunk of Federal money under pretext of University had a student and a faculty member to him. We were in my office in Vanderbilt building a library.”… had a private conversation. And I resolved once Hall, and when it finished, Elmer said in his She won applause from the 250 packed into the I became president to correct that situation. deep voice, “Jim”—he was a very droll sort of steaming auditorium as she accused the university of “fraud” against the Government and of “lying” That’s why I was so concerned to build a man—“do you have some whiskey here?” to the community and its students. Architect Philip library where people could have privacy. Many I said, “No, Elmer, but I have some across the Stanley Saplin, director of community relations Johnson gives a students didn’t have quiet spaces to work at street where I live.” for N.Y.U., immediately denied the charges. “This tour of the Bobst is purely a library and study center,” he said. “This construction site home. They were lucky if they lived near a So we walked over to 37 Washington Square charge is just another preposterous thing from to Elmer and public library. The opportunity for them to do West, had a glass of scotch, and that did it. He Jane Jacobs.”… Mamdouha Bobst their work at their University seemed to me gave more than $11 million dollars, which was and Jim and —JUNE 21, 1966: THE NEW YORK TIMES Janet Hester. extremely important. a lot of money in those days. N.Y.U. HEAD DENIES DAVID ROBINSON: Jane Jacobs was the center l to r: Architects of fighting against the shadow that Bobst was Richard Foster and LIBRARY CHARGE Philip Johnson, going to cause on Washington Square. She had Elmer Bobst, and Dr. Hester Says U.S. Grant a legitimate point. Philip Johnson’s concept Jim Hester in front for Building Is Proper was that the Main Building set the stage for of Bobst Library. the architecture of NYU—and that all the other The president of New York University denied yesterday charges that the university was trying to buildings should be the same height. bilk the United States Government by construct- ing a building largely for administrative purposes ELLEN PETERSON-LEWIS: It wasn’t until the with Federal funds earmarked for a library. ELLEN Dr. James M. Hester told a City Planning Com- library appeared that members of the commu- PETERSON-LEWIS mission hearing that 94 percent of a building the NO RIBBON IS CUT Community nity realized that NYU was expanding without member, university hopes to erect just south of Washington any give-or-take with them. People felt frustrat- Square would be used for library facilities. FOR NEW LIBRARY Greenwich Village ed for one simple reason: They were fighting Federal funds would subsidize only the library N.Y.U. Wanted to Avoid portion. this Goliath, and they weren’t winning. Irritating Residents At a rally Monday night protesting N.Y.U.’s Suddenly, you had this huge red sandstone plans, Mrs. Jane Jacobs, a noted city planner, building that had nothing to do with the New York University, without fanfare, began con- had asserted that most of the books in the build- struction last week of a 12-story, $16.6-million ing would be stored in a basement and sub-base- low-rise character of the neighborhood. People library opposite the southeast corner of Washing- ment…. were angry, very angry. WRQ6TXDUH3DUNDIWHUDWZR\HDUFRQÀLFWWKDWKDV The gray-haired Mrs. Jacobs, her words soaked stirred bitterness between the university and resi- in acid, reiterated her charges yesterday…. dents of Greenwich Village. Mrs. Jacobs sounded another prominent theme JIM HESTER: The man who was building Bobst Bulldozers started excavating the grassy site when she accused the university of breaking its had been the lowest bidder, a requirement ZLWKRXWFHUHPRQ\WRDYRLGFRQÀLFWZLWKWKHUHVL- agreement made at the time it took possession of of a federally supported building. But he did dents, who had fought unsuccessfully at hearings the controversial plot to maintain the cornice line and in the courts to stop the project. at 60 feet. not have enough clout to compete with the 34 If the library were built, she said, its shadow contractors who were building the World Trade 35 would “symbolize an enormous train of broken Delayed One Year agreements and half truths darkening the square Center at the same time. When there should and our lives.” have been 20, 30, or 50 people working on the James M. Hester, president of the university, said  'U +HVWHU KLV WRQJXH ÀLFNHULQJ QHUYRXVO\ DW library, there were two. We went months in he had been “assured by our legal counsel that we The Elmer Holmes Bobst Library opened decorated with balconies and unifying the his lips, said the university had to build a large this terrible condition while the World Trade are on solid ground for starting to build—other- on September 12, 1973. whole book collection of the University and library to “meet its responsibility” to the students. wise we will be waiting forever.” The litigation He asserted that the community had long known Center was zooming up. had already delayed the building for more than a the scholars who were using the books. of the university’s plans, and that opposition had Another thing that happened was that John- year. SYLVIA BARUCH: My office was in Bobst Library We had the administrative offices on the only developed recently. son prescribed the use of red sandstone for the  'U +HVWHU VDLG WKH SODQV KDG EHHQ ³FRQ¿UPHG on the 12th floor. Philip Johnson had not only top floor, so I was in contact with that sight  7KH 5HY %HQMDPLQ 0LQL¿H RI *UDFH &KXUFK by so many public bodies” that they were clearly said that the “highly vocal minority” that opposed outside of the library, in order to blend with “responsive to the needs of the area.” created the building but also the ashtrays and every day, many times a day. the library did not speak for most Villagers. the red brick buildings on the north side of the “The university regrets this disagreement,” he add- the office supplies. It was really a big thing to I’m very proud of the library as a physical mani-  0U0LQL¿HVDLGKHKDGEHHQWRDSURWHVWPHHWLQJ Square. We found that sandstone in a quarry ed, “and we hope this can be the end of it. Our inten- keep your desk looking like he wanted it to look. festation of the purpose of the University and recently and “felt for a moment as if I were back tion is to be a good neighbor.”… in the Middle Ages, in the midst of an ancient feud in Massachusetts. But residents of Greenwich Village who fought of the effort that went into upgrading it. I have between town and gown.” A murmur of apparent When the building was about halfway up, the the library were not anticipating a thaw in rela- LARRY SILVERSTEIN: The advent of the Bobst gift wonderful visions of the library in my sleep. approval swept the crowd. quarry went bankrupt. We already had the stone tions with the university. was transformational. It significantly increased — JUNE 22, 1966: THE NEW YORK TIMES Jane Jacobs, the author and community plan- TOM BISHOP: on the building—and the quarry was shutting ner, said Dr. Hester’s hope for friendship was “in library usage to a degree that astounded people. Hester was criticized because down. So we had no choice but to buy the quarry vain.” And affected the life at the Square in a very it was wildly expensive. People talked about and run it until the stone had been completed. positive way. People sat up, took notice. Hester’s Folly. — DECEMBER 24, 1967: THE NEW YORK TIMES You just have to have faith. Well, Hester had vision. It was no folly at all. ED KOCH: Jane Jacobs led a major fight against it. ED JIM HESTER: The library was a statement on He was hardnosed. He knew what it took to And I supported her. It was a question of wheth- KOCH the part of the University. This was a serious, move NYU from here to there. Mayor of New York er or not the building would cast a shadow that City from 1978– research-oriented, academic institution whose He had high standards, and the library cost would prevent the sun from shining on the 1989; Visiting Fellow principal building was devoted to scholarship. a lot of money. No matter how much Bobst gave, people who used Washington Square Park. from 1991–99; LLB, It was a very dramatic moment to enter the it cost more. I don’t know the figures and I don’t Law, 1948 I would say at this point that I’m glad it was library when the atrium was completed, to go care. At the end of the Hester period, NYU was in built. It’s a beautiful building. up and see this enormous space so beautifully financial trouble. But NYU had a library. GIVING UP on Big-Time Sports

Among the casualties of NYU’s severe financial crises over decades was Divi- sion I athletics. By the time Bobst Library opened in 1973, the University had so lit- tle space for sports that it used the roof of the library. HITTING RUSS HAMBERGER: Everyone knows that the Heisman Trophy is for the outstanding college football player. But what many people don’t BOTTOM know is that an NYU football player posed for the sculpture of the trophy. We had been big-time football, which they NYU AND NEW YORK CITY gave up in about 1950. And big-time track from the 1920s into the early ’70s. And big-time Even the sale of the Heights campus in basketball. I am told we missed out on getting 1973 was not enough to stave off further Kareem Abdul Jabbar, who was Lew Alcindor at financial trouble and a second crisis. the time, a New York City kid. Then, as now, NYU’s stability was bound 36 to New York City’s. 37 In 1971, after a 20-loss season, the University closed the basketball program. TOM BENDER: That was a bad time for New York. NYU had also been tarnished when its It was services being cut. It was a time of crime, basketball team was caught in point- drugs—the two being intensely related. Break-ins shaving scandals in 1951 and 1961. in even good neighborhoods were not unusual. It was a very gray city. RUSS HAMBERGER: The athletics department struggled for a few years to keep baseball with- DEBORAH BRODERICK: The city was a rough DEBORAH out a field, because all the athletic facilities place to be. We walked around with “mugger BRODERICK Associate Vice were in the Heights. They couldn’t do it, so money,” strategically placed nowhere near President for they had to give up men’s baseball. where you kept your wallet. For those of us who Marketing We had already given up athletic scholar- grew up and lived here, it was just a way of life. Communications since 2000; ships, even though we were the equivalent Production of Division I sports. So the swimming team TOM BENDER: One of the things about the NYU Manager in practiced in a high school pool some place. financial crisis: It came earlier than most of the Advertising and Publications from The wrestling team was in the basement of the other financial crises. All universities went into 1985–2000 Weinstein Residence Hall. The fencing team one version. NYU’s was particularly acute. was in the teaching gym at the School of Ed. They were quite fortunate, although it must Women’s basketball, which we still kept, was not have seemed that way at the time, that played in one of the teaching gyms. they dealt with it much earlier, which was why Once Bobst was open, we built racquetball when I arrived things were grim. Even some courts on the roof. There would be people in paint in the office would have been a good idea. Intersection of their shorts and T-shirts walking through the But that meant that there were no more cuts. West Fourth Street library to go up to the roof to play. We’d already hit bottom. and Mercer. FORD TO CITY:

Ford to City: Drop Dead Vows He’ll Veto Bail-Out In Speech Attacking City

3UHVLGHQW)RUGGHFODUHGÀDWO\WRGD\WKDWKHZRXOG veto any bill calling for “a federal bail-out of New MARTY LIPTON: As we came into 1975, we had British allow London to become insolvent? York City” and instead proposed legislation that the confluence of imminent bankruptcy of the Would the Soviets abandon Moscow? would make it easier for the city to go into bank- city and imminent bankruptcy of the Univer- ruptcy. In a speech before the National Press Club, Ford sity, somewhat connected because of the city’s ED KOCH: I was a member of Congress, having FRXSOHGUHSHDWHGDWWDFNVRQWKHFLW\¶V¿VFDOPDQ- problems but separate in economic terms. gone there in 1969. The first I heard of the fiscal agement with a promise that if default came, the Governor Carey created the Financial Control crisis was about 1975, when Jac Friedgut, of federal government would see to it that “essential public services for the people of New York City” Board and then the Municipal Assistance CitiBank, called me up and said, “I have some would be maintained. Corporation (MAC) to deal with the city’s fiscal really important news to tell the congressional  :KLWH +RXVH RI¿FLDOV VDLG SULYDWHO\ KRZHYHU problems. Felix Rohatyn came in to chair it. delegation.” that Ford has no intention of committing feder- al money to maintain such services. They also ABE At the same time, the city was preparing Over the next half hour, Friedgut told us news BEAME FRQFHGHGWKDWDVGH¿QHGE\WKH)RUGDGPLQLVWUD- Mayor of New York bankruptcy petitions. that was absolutely so shocking it wasn’t believ- tion, “essential services” may not include public City from 1974–77 able. The city was on the edge of bankruptcy, and schooling. ABE BEAME: The dilemma of our city really banks would no longer lend money to the city. —OCTOBER 30, 1975: THE DAILY NEWS FELIX has no villains, only victims. We have had a It was an unimaginable crisis. We did not 38 ROHATYN succession of administrations—local, state, conceive of the possibility that New York City, 39 Investment DROPbanker; Honorary and federal—which have responded to public international capital of the world then and now, Doctorate, 1979 pressures and political needs with new pro- the largest city in America, a city of close to 8 grams and broadened services, most of them million people, would have reached that stage. well-meaning and most of them fundable in a Remember, the then-mayor was an accoun- growth economy. We have seen mayors, gover- tant, Abe Beame. For us not to know what the FELIX ROHATYN: The people around President nors, presidents, and legislators use all sorts of financial plight was would mean that he didn’t Ford, ultimately we didn’t scare them until we fiscal gymnastics to find the means to maintain know, or didn’t choose to tell us. got them to the economic summit in France these services. in November 1975. The president of France, It was especially true in this city—which has a FELIX ROHATYN: The dikes are crumbling and Valéry d’Estaing, and the Chancellor of long and compassionate tradition of providing we’re running out of fingers. Germany, Helmut Schmidt, said to President for the poor, the aged, the disadvantaged, who Ford, “You can’t seriously think about having a have always looked to this city and the lady Big Rescues Can Work. bankruptcy in New York City. There will be an standing in our harbor as symbols of hope. international dollar crisis.” As a public servant in this city for over 40 Just Ask New York To Jerry Ford’s everlasting credit, he went years, I accept the responsibility along with Echoing those who maintain that “greedy borrow- back to Washington and signed the legislation. officials, past and present, of trying to make ers” should get no help today, many in Washing- We had three days to go before default. It was this city function in this tradition. I can recall ton in 1975 argued against a rescue of New York. a very close thing. Mr. Rohatyn recalled the spokesman for President as controller criticizing the very procedures Gerald R. Ford comparing New York City to a which I later found myself forced to follow wayward daughter hooked on heroin. “You don’t MARTY LIPTON: In November of 1975, my law once I became mayor. give her $100 a day to support her habit,” the of- firm was one of two firms that were represent- ¿FLDOVDLG Foreign correspondents covering our City In late October, Mr. Ford gave his infamous ing the city and actually had final drafts of Hall are incredulous to learn that the world’s speech at the National Press Club. bankruptcy petitions ready to file. As we DEAD richest nation could abandon its preeminent approached Thanksgiving, it was clear that city. Would the French disown Paris? Or the —MAY 11, 2008: THE NEW YORK TIMES New York couldn’t get to the end of the year. Jim Hester. President Ford had previously refused the city’s request for temporary federal funding to prevent the bankruptcy. About a week prior to Thanksgiving in 1975, he changed his mind. The federal government enacted legislation that would provide funding if the city was able to get the banks and insurance companies that held city debt to roll it over so as to extend the maturity. And get the city pension funds to pur- chase some $500 million of additional city debt. Through a set of unusual circumstances, I happened to end up as counsel to the city, to work out the agreement to roll over the debt and do an agreement with the federal govern- ment for the financing. Rohatyn and I sometimes joke that people ask me, “How did the two of you get to be such good friends?” And I say, “It’s because we slept together for three nights in a row on a bench outside the Boot Room, City Hall.” But eventually we got it all done. The city started to come out of at least the fiscal part of its crisis. 40 41 CAROLE RIFKIND: I do believe that headline CAROLE galvanized people to feel proud about New RIFKIND JIM HESTER: After 13 years in office, it was Given the renewed financial distress the Architectural, York—the resilience, the ability of New Yorkers, urban, and cultural clearly nearing time for me to turn NYU over University was experiencing, the trustees of the city itself, to triumph over adversity. historian; MA, to someone else. I had been approached by sought a president who could address Steinhardt, 1964 presidential search committees from other the University’s fiscal woes. John Sawhill MARTY LIPTON: The solution to the city’s fiscal universities but had not encouraged them. had earned a PhD in economics from NYU crisis and resultant improvement in city living It would be like entering into another marriage. in 1963 and had served as professor of conditions contributed significantly to the Obviously, many have done both successfully, economics. concurrent improvements in NYU: proof that but it did not appeal to me. there is a symbiotic relationship between a And so I ended my great experience as Before becoming NYU’s 12th president, great university and a great city. president of NYU by announcing [in 1974] that he was associate director for energy I was accepting the invitation of the secretary and environmental matters in the Office general of the United Nations to become the of Management and Budget and, in first rector of the United Nations University. 1974, administrator of the newly created The world can be divided into those who Federal Energy Administration. love New York City and those who don’t. Those who love New York tend to be unusually lively MARTY LIPTON: At the very height of the fiscal people. They have to be. problems of New York City, when New York City New York University, by comparison with in the fall of 1975 was on the brink of bankrupt- most other universities in the world, is a much cy, the University again reached a point when it more interesting place because of this vitality. was having significant financial problems, de- At NYU, I was never bored for any moment. spite the sale of properties earlier in the 1970s. I think I’ve been one of the luckiest men The board brought in John Sawhill as presi- imaginable. dent toward the end of 1975. 1975–1980 JOHN 42 SAWHILL 43

the Brutal Savior MARTY LIPTON: In 1972, I had become a member of the law school board. As such, I learned that “THANK GOD the law school was getting very significant financial help from the dividends received from the Mueller Macaroni Company, which FOR LAWYERS”: everybody at the law school thought was owned by the Law Center Foundation, a separate entity from the University. SALVATION However, the law school did not own it. The Mueller Macaroni Company was acquired by [then-dean] Arthur Vanderbilt in a transaction FROM A NOODLE FACTORY designed to help the finances of the law school, before the creation of the Law Center Founda- tion. Mueller was owned by the University, not by the law school or the separate foundation. 1976 Which, of course, caused the trustees of the law school to get terribly exercised about the jeopardy to this source of financing for the law school being lost in a bankruptcy of the University.

NORMAN NORMAN DORSEN: The title to the money was in DORSEN the University. The law school was not able, as Counselor to the President since a legal entity, to own the shares, but the money 44 2002; Professor of was in trust for the law school and the income 45 Law since 1961; had been spent for the law school. Founding Director and Faculty Chair of the Hauser MARTY LIPTON: I am not quite sure how I ended Global Law School up being the trustee who was delegated to Program from TOM FRUSCIANO: 1994–2002 When Hester left and John try and get the Mueller Company back for the Sawhill came in, you had a very good entrepre- law school. Maybe because no one else wanted neur followed by a very good fiscal manager. to try. I’d had several conversations with Sawhill and Allan Cartter, who worked with President Hester, each of which ended in the Hester, really put the clamps on spending. rather unpleasant circumstance of his saying that the law school was trying to undermine University Survival: his presidency and damage the University. A Nine-Point Program All of a sudden, John Sawhill came in as president. It was the day after he took office that Sawhill outlines a plan for overcoming I called him and said that I was a trustee of the ¿VFDOZRHVDQGPRYLQJIRUZDUG law school and thought I was fully familiar with I might have used this occasion simply to mention, the fiscal affairs of the University and the prob- LQSDVVLQJWKH8QLYHUVLW\¶VFXUUHQW¿VFDOSUREOHPV lems we were facing. I thought there might be a and reassure you that everything is, and will be all right. But, that approach is contrary to my style. solution, and I’d like to come in and see him.  ,WLVWUXHWKDW1HZNorman Redlich’s deanship, and it and into the Law Center Foundation to protect more than half of the money for the law school. and probably more. began to give the law school the capacity to against the University’s fiscal problems. I negotiated with Tisch and ultimately— Some people felt that the law school was move from being a top-20 school to making a He said, “Well, how should I proceed?” not without considerable hard negotiation shortchanged, that the University should have serious flirtation with breaking into the top 10. I said, “I think you should appoint a trustee and even the threat of litigation between the given us all the money or 80 percent, because What Norman did was to provide in D’Agostino committee to deal with this.” University and the law school—we came to it was Vanderbilt who had raised the money, Hall and Mercer and the new library a basic infra- And he said, “Who would you recommend?” an agreement. and Russell Niles who nurtured it, and the next structure, which, by the time we got to the end I said I’d recommend Larry Tisch. I disclosed deans, McKay and Redlich. of his deanship, established all the fundamental that my firm represented Loews Corporation, ALLEN CLAXTON: I don’t think it was easy for Other members of the faculty felt something bases for making NYU what some would say today Tisch’s company. But I thought Larry Tisch was Marty Lipton to do that. A lot of the law school ALLEN that I now feel very strongly, having spent some is the greatest law school in the world. Certainly CLAXTON the best business person on the board and people were very unhappy about their willing- Vice President time in the University administration. It is one of the two or three or four greatest. would be the person best able to represent ness to support the University. The professional and then Senior very important to have a strong university to the University. schools back then had the better reputation Vice President support a top-flight law school, or even a very SIDNEY BOROWITZ: Sawhill deserves the highest for Finance from than the undergraduate schools. 1976–93 good law school. marks for the Mueller sale. It was the most JOHN SAWHILL: Larry Tisch was always there Lipton said, “We can’t be a great university if JOHN significant thing that has ever happened finan- when I needed him. Whenever you wanted a it’s only the professional schools. We have to sup- SAWHILL cially to New York University. President from meeting and called him up, we’d get respons- port the strengthening of the base of the liberal 1975–80; I don’t think it would have happened under es right away. He was always willing to help arts. And we have to put our money”—the law Professor of Hester. out, he took a great interest in the University, school felt it was their money—“on the table.” Economics from Sawhill sought and found such a generous 1975–80 he didn’t interfere, he seemed to have a good It was a wonderful gesture and a critical offer for the company that there was enough in understanding of what a board should do—and element in setting the stage for the following it for everyone. 46 of the day-to-day management one shouldn’t 15, 20 years. 47 get involved in. MARTY LIPTON: A treaty was negotiated in SIDNEY BOROWITZ: Dean Redlich played a very, connection with the Mueller sale to protect the SIDNEY BOROWITZ: There had been an agree- very important role in the resolution of this law school from being taxed by the University ment that had been signed between the law problem. He was able to convince the law school beyond its allocated portion of University school and the Hester administration with faculty to accept this offer, even though there expenses—a great concern of the law school— regard to the Mueller Company. That agree- was no legal basis for the faculty agreement and to provide that the law school could ment would have made the benefit of the sale to the deal. designate four law school representatives on of the Mueller Spaghetti Company accrue the University board to look out for the school. entirely to the law school. Hester signed that MARTY LIPTON: We had worked out an agreement Or at least to give the law school the comfort agreement, I must say, against my advice. between the law school and the University of knowing that four people in whom it had Sawhill doggedly broke it. He made the Law providing for a 60/40 distribution in favor confidence were trustees of the University. Center Foundation and the people running of the law school if we could get $100 million, As a result, the law school worked rather the law school miserable and subsequently and 50/50 distribution for anything over cooperatively with John Sawhill. And the four got them to permit him to abrogate that $100 million. law school trustees—I was one of them—became agreement. If that had not succeeded, I think Suddenly, there was a company, Foremost- fairly active as trustees of the University. it would have ended up in terrible litigation McKesson, that wanted to buy the Mueller between the University and the law school. Company. We would not have to have a public sale “The Law School and the of the stock. Ultimately, we reached an agreement Noodle Factory” MARTY LIPTON: There then ensued several to sell the Mueller Company for $115 million. Jay Oliva called the day when the sale was an- months of both preparation to have a sale of We ended up with $47.5 million going to the nounced “perhaps the most historic moment since the Mueller Company, a public offering of University and $67.5 million to the law school, N.Y.U.’s founding.” In sum, N.Y.U. was in a po- stock, and a negotiation basically between creating an endowment for the school. Each sition to join the ranks, often thought to be sparse, of those who can say “Thank God for lawyers.” Larry Tisch and myself as to how the money received considerably more than a 50/50 split of Marty Lipton and would be split. the original $75 million would have produced. John Sawhill. — DECEMBER 26, 1977: THE NEW YORKER JULY 13–14, 1977

FEAR The random murder of six New Yorkers and the wounding of seven more by David IN THE STREETS Berkowitz, nicknamed the Son of Sam, terrorized the city from the summer of 1976 to the summer of 1977. “The reason I believe I ultimately won [the mayor- al election of 1977] was because of the fear in the city—and what should be done about it,” [Mayor Once again, NYU was saved. But New Ed] Koch said. “The fear was palpable.” York City was ailing, morale and safety — AUGUST 7, 2007: THE NEW YORK TIMES plunging to a new low. RICH STANLEY: Certainly nobody wanted to BLACKOUT! go to Brooklyn then. Greenwich Village was HEART OF DARKNESS largely controlled by drug dealers. You could not walk through the park without being For a night and a day, nothing worked except offered opportunities to buy all forms of drugs telephones, transistor radios and a certain grit- repeatedly. Most people refused to walk there ty New York resilience in the face of disaster. after certain hours of the day. Subways ran dead. Elevators hung high in their shafts. Waterpumps failed, and with them sinks, The stretch of Broadway between Astor Place tubs and toilets. Streetlights and stoplights and 4th Street, which is now one of the more 48 ZHQW RXW« 7KHDWHUV ZHQW GDUN 2I¿FH WRZHUV interesting, vibrant places to walk around, 49 stood nearly empty. Airports shut down. Hos- was a series of boarded-up buildings that was pitals switched to backup generators when they absolutely terrifying after dark. ZRUNHG²DQGÀDVKOLJKWPHGLFLQHZKHQWKH\GLG QRW«7KHPD\RUKHOGKLV¿UVWFULVLVFRXQFLOVE\ But the city was trying to get itself out of its candlelight. hole. A couple of administrations of mayors …More than 2,000 stores were pillaged, and started to figure out how to police more heavi- guesstimates of property losses run as high as ly and control much of the street scene. RICH BOB $1 billion—enough to qualify the stricken areas STANLEY BERNE for Federal disaster aid… [By comparison, in the Vice Provost and blackout of ’65] there were only 96 arrests all Senior Vice BOB BERNE: then Executive President and night—and crime rates actually fell. In 1976, New York was at the Vice Provost from then Executive bottom of a lot of trends, financial and social. — JULY 25, 1977: PETER GOLDMAN, NEWSWEEK 1999–2004; Asso- Vice President But NYU was a vibrant place, one that offered ciate Vice Provost for Health since for Planning from 2002; Vice Presi- ABE BEAME: We’ve seen our citizens subjected a lot of promise. 1996–99; Assis- dent for Academic to violence, vandalism, theft, and discomfort. If I was studying the financial problems of tant Chancellor and Health Affairs The blackout has threatened our safety cities and issues around school districts, what from 1991–96; from 2000–02; held positions Vice President and has seriously impacted our economy. better place to study them than a major urban in Academic for Academic We’ve been needlessly subjected to a night of capital that was close to bankruptcy? Resource Planning Development terror in many communities that have been from 1983–91; from 1996–2000; wantonly looted and burned. The costs when RICH STANLEY: Director of Fiscal If we had simply waited for the Dean of Wagner finally tallied will be enormous. Affairs for the Di- from 1994–97; city to develop, the University would not have vision of Libraries Associate Dean RICH STANLEY: The day my wife and I moved moved anywhere near as quickly, if at all. and NYU Press of Wagner from from 1979–83 1988–93; Pro- to New York was the day they captured the Instead, the increasing interest among young fessor of Public Son of Sam. That was just typical of what life people in being in the city, the willingness to be Policy and Finan- was like in the mid- and late ’70s—that sense pioneers in the rebirth of New York, and NYU’s cial Management at Wagner since of everything being a little bit out of control being able to sell that rebirth were the keys to 1976 in the city. the success that happened in the future. REBIRTH

Miracle on Washington Square John Sawhill, the jogging, trash-collecting president of New York University, has performed American education’s most dramatic rescue operation. Not long ago trash cans were disappearing with distressing regularity from Washington Square Park, and no one was more upset about it than John Sawhill, the 41-year-old president of New York University, whose penthouse overlooks the southwest corner of the park. He ordered his staff to buy 25 chains and locks and the following morning, ALLEN CLAXTON: after he went out for his daily jog around the I’m a New Yorker, grew up in square, he applied himself to the problem of 50 Washington Heights. After graduate school, the trash cans. 51 my whole career had been public finance. I’d In July 1975, when Mr. Sawhill—the for- worked for Mayor Lindsey and was working mer Federal “energy czar”—took command for CUNY as budget director when I got a call of the country’s largest private university, he inherited a projected $9 million operat- from John Sawhill, wanting to interview me. LQJGH¿FLWVXEWHUUDQHDQIDFXOW\PRUDOHDQG It was 1976. a board of trustees not at all sure that there NYU’s reputation was not as strong as it is was a future for urban private education. today, by a long shot. Some of it was deserved, Since then he has engineered perhaps the some of it wasn’t. We were an open-admis- most dramatic rescue operation in the his- tory of American education. N.Y.U.—which sions kind of school for academically qualified pours an estimated $500 million a year into people, a role many other universities of our the city’s economy—now has a balanced caliber didn’t have. budget, a substantial endowment, growing But the feeling was that NYU was about to enrollment and high faculty morale, and John turn around. When I took the job, we ran a Sawhill is one of the few presidents of ma- jor universities who wake up in the morning small deficit. But by the second year we were with the luxury of thinking about academic in balance. We didn’t have a lot of money to policy rather than about how to raise enough spend, but we weren’t spending money we money to get through the day. didn’t have. —APRIL 30, 1978: EDWARD B. FISKE, Sawhill was clearly concerned that we get THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE away from the reputation of being a school where the state had to bail us out by agreeing to buy the Heights campus. But he didn’t want to stop there. He felt John Sawhill jogs past the Washing- it had to be the premise for the rebirth of ton Square Arch. the University. THE TRUSTEES ROLL UP THEIR SLEEVES RICHARD RICHARD BING: The board at that time was at the Harmonie Club with somebody who said BING very interesting. They ran their businesses by to me, “Look, if you’re interested in changing, Vice President for themselves and prided themselves on having see the man over there? He’s chairing a com- Public Resource Administration no staff. It was very hands-on. mittee searching for a vice president for NYU. and Development One of their predilections was: You didn’t I’ll bring him over.” since 2003; expand staff. So we kept the administration The man was Herbert Silverman, a trustee Vice President for Budget and very low. and chairman of the search committee. I had Resource Planning a very nice two-minute conversation with from 1991–2003; JOHN SAWHILL: When I first became president Herbert. He said, “I’ll give your name to the Deputy Vice President for of New York University, I scheduled a series of president.” Who at that time was John Sawhill. Budget and lunches with all the members of the board. I had no idea that Sawhill would ever get Planning from I’ll never forget my lunch with Larry Tisch. back to me. I went back to my office, and my 1983–91; Director LARRY SILVERSTEIN: Sawhill became a reasonable of the University I was new in the job and trying to think what secretary tells me, “Sawhill’s on the phone.” and beneficial successor to Hester because he Budget from my priorities should be. So I asked him, “Larry, In his charming way he said, “Are you 1978–83 brought to the task very superior administrative where do you think I ought to spend my time?” interested in NYU? If so, come down to my capabilities. And an ability to choose talented He said, “John, I think you ought to get the office in the next hour.” people. Very good at that. place under much better management than it So I got into a taxi and had an hour’s One of the first things Sawhill did was to is today.” interview with John Sawhill. If there was a look at the fact that the University was hemor- Then he helped me with a whole series of search committee, he never told me about it. rhaging, which we could no longer afford projects that really made the University change If there was anyone else who was going to make 52 to do. We had divested ourselves of the Heights from being in a deficit to creating a surplus, en- that decision, he never told me about it. 53 campus, and now that we had the proceeds of abling us to accomplish a lot of the educational At the end of the conversation, he said to me, the sale, the question was how best to use them Meeting of the objectives we had set for ourselves. “Would you like to be a vice president of NYU?” to benefit the University. Board of Trustees. Now I don’t make decisions that quickly. LARRY SILVERSTEIN: Sawhill asked the trustees But for some strange reason that I can’t define LEONARD STERN: When I was a student in the Sachs, called me out of the blue and said he He says, “You’re going to be chairman of the LEONARD to mandate a balanced budget. I said, “Yes.” STERN ’50s, NYU was a lousy school. It was known as wanted to see me. finance committee.” Member of the He proceeded to achieve it. For the first time, the subway school, with very few dormitories. Gus was one of the biggest personalities on I said, “I’m not a Wall Street guy.” I was NYU Board of the University was on a break-even basis. Major “Everybody Doesn’t Hate Most of the schools had very low admission Wall Street of his generation. He was revered. So selling pet supplies and canary birds in those Trustees from advance. No one had ever done this before. NYU Anymore” 1979–96; NAOMI standards. If there was campus life, I didn’t I said, “Fine. When?” days [Hartz Mountain Corporation, founded by member of the LEVINE NAOMI LEVINE: “There’s a real sense of ‘somebody in charge’ come across it. He said, “How about Sunday?” Because he his father]. Stern Board of Senior Vice I was trained as a civil rights since Sawhill arrived,” says Caroline Persell, an The work ethic to get out of school and start was working all the time. And he said, “That’s the way it’s going to be.” Overseers since President for and civil liberties lawyer. I went to Columbia associate professor of Sociology. 1988; member making a living was in high drive. The country I said, “Fine, what time?” Sure enough, I got a call from the president, External Affairs and I loved the study of law. But I did not like of the Institute of from 1978–2002; —NOVEMBER 23, 1978: THE VILLAGER had just come out of World War II. We had the He said, “How about 7:30 in the morning?” John Sawhill. It was 1976. Fine Arts Board Special Advisor the practice. wind at our back. I came over to the house at 7:30. And he said, I developed an immediate bond with Larry of Trustees from to the President Then I joined the American Jewish Congress. NAOMI LEVINE: At that time, NYU was raising 1995–2003; MBA, Getting an MBA was a nocturnal experience. “I’m not on NYU’s board but I’m very friendly Tisch. Marty Lipton came on not long after I and Executive At that time, it had the largest number of law- for the whole University, including its medical Stern, 1959; BS, Director of the The business school was down in the Wall with the people down there. They’ve asked me joined—and I became fascinated. Stern, 1957 Heyman Center yers involved in civil rights and civil liberties school and its law school, $20 million. Maybe. Street area. Classes started 6:00 p.m. and went for the name of somebody I can think of who A few of us on the board started to really for Philanthropy litigation. We were involved in the struggle John Sawhill brought me in with the instruc- till about 10 at night. There was no intellectual would be a good board member. I want you to work together on a continuous basis, where if and Fundraising against segregation in the South, church-state tion—and he said it without any hesitation—“I want at the School ferment. I don’t think we even had a student take the job.” we called each other and said, “NYU business,” of Professional cases: I was very happy there. four meetings a week or you can go back where you lounge. If we did, I didn’t spend a minute in it. I told him about my experience at NYU. we would all leave the meeting we were in and Studies since What I realized when I hit the age of 55 was came from.” He put my office next to his. Everybody was serious and exhausted. “Look, Leonard,” he says, “you know how to take the call. It became just a very exciting 2002 that I’d really had only one major job in my life, He would meet with me every single day to I left the University without any great emo- do things. Take the job. Make it right. Make that challenge to see if we could use our practical and that if I didn’t do anything else I’d never go over what did we do, what are the appoint- tional attachment to it. But one day, Gus Levy, a challenge.” skills with the educators and administrators at have the chance. I was complaining—or, as we ments, how much more did we raise. who then was the senior partner at Goldman So I said, “What’s the job?” the University to make substantive changes. say in Yiddish, I was kvetching—at a luncheon And he brought in Larry Tisch as the chairman. Larry Tisch. Laurence A. Tisch, chairman and chief executive MARTY LIPTON: NAOMI LEVINE: RI¿FHURI/RHZV,QFKDVEHHQHOHFWHGFKDLUPDQ Time after time we would hear Between Larry Tisch and John of New York University’s board of trustees. He from Larry, “I was there at the construction Sawhill, they created one of the most presti- succeeds John M. Schiff, honorary chairman of site this morning and I don’t like the way we’re gious boards in the city of New York. WHY the N.Y.U. trustees for almost 10 years and a trust- ee for 41 years. doing this or that or the other thing.” Or “I Larry used to say that at NYU you could raise think we could save some money if we did it a money only from the FIRE group. The FIRE ARTS AND –JUNE 28, 1978: THE NEW YORK TIMES different way.” group represented finance, insurance, and real MARTY LIPTON: Larry was determined to make estate. On the NYU board was every leading SCIENCE? NYU a first-class university. He was prepared to LEONARD STERN: For instance: How do you do figure from the world of finance, the heads of make significant financial contributions him- two things at once, like improve quality and banks, real estate, and insurance. From President Sawhill’s self, had already made some. He was prepared improve revenues? Remember, the University He ran the board by the three Gs. Every board to ask his business friends and personal friends was then and still is today tuition driven, not member had to give money, help get money, or Message to the Faculties who were capable of making significant contri- endowment driven. get off the board. Because our enrollment is healthy, especially at butions to join the board. And he was prepared We asked for an inventory of classroom use WKHXQGHUJUDGXDWHOHYHODQGRXU¿QDQFLDOVLWXDWLRQ JOHN SAWHILL: has improved, we have an unprecedented oppor- to devote a considerable amount of time to by the hour. Because every time you said you Larry Tisch transformed tunity to take the steps necessary to enable us to providing the leadership. wanted to do something, some of the educators New York University. When I first came in as emerge as an innovative and intellectually excit- said, “Oh, we don’t have the facilities for that.” president it was a distinguished university ing university.… NAOMI LEVINE:  1HHGOHVVWRVD\,DPJUDWL¿HGWKDWRXUSURIHV- Most people sit on boards We asked: “How many classrooms, when and had a very important role in New York City, VLRQDO VFKRROV DUH ÀRXULVKLQJ %XW WKH XOWLPDWH because it’s an honor, but they don’t under- are they used, what percentage of the seats but it wasn’t really a national and an interna- level of achievement in the professional schools stand the fiduciary responsibilities. If you work are taken?” tional institution—high praise—as it is today. is partly contingent upon the quality of the Arts and Science, which remains for us, as for all major for a nonprofit and you have a chairman of the These are questions a businessman would ask. universities, the intellectual core. board who doesn’t understand that he has to We didn’t make the final decision, but we got JAY OLIVA: The board was so important because help raise money, get another job, because that the information together in a way it was never their world and their business and their –OCTOBER 5, 1978 organization will not survive. gathered before. And we saw that, other than families were tied to the city of New York. JOHN SAWHILL: I don’t favor a return to the 54 Larry Tisch was the perfect man for that job. a couple of bunch-up times when classrooms They’ve got to make this town work. If you get traditional liberal arts if by that you mean that 55 He knew everyone with wealth in New York, were overutilized, there was a shortage of audi- that kind of person on your board, all the ideas every student ought to take Greek and Latin. and he was very philanthropic. A lot of people torium space but not a substantial shortage of that you’re percolating as gambles, they’re I do think it’s important that students have a knew him. More than that, they respected him. classroom space. taking those same kind of gambles in their broad range of subjects when they’re in college. He was a man of his word. Then we would sit down with the administra- business, with their family. And they’re ready After all, this is one of the few times in their tion and say, “Look at these numbers.” to help you do that. lives when they have a chance to study the LARRY TISCH: Basically, it’s person to person. It was Camelot. They literally recreated their history. They English language, for example; when they You have lunch with people, you have dinner were graduates of a school that did not have a have a chance to study history and economics with people, you have breakfast with people. JAY OLIVA: Lew Rudin is another example. We’re great reputation, was not well known except and sociology and all of the other arts and You solicit their support. in the Bobst Library, which we damn near as the place everybody went. And they turned science programs. I’m not a fundraiser. I don’t enjoy fundrais- didn’t open because we didn’t have the money it into a place where people said, “Oh, my God. Our society is becoming more complex; “THERE ISN’T ing at all. But it goes with the territory, so you for it. We’re building a library like that in the You went there?” our society is becoming more technologically have to do it. middle of selling the Heights and going broke. oriented, so we need people who not only have And we’re trying to get some money out of Lew. a broad background in the liberal arts but also ANY CALL LARRY LARRY SILVERSTEIN: Larry said, “Come on, help Lew looks north and points out the window. have had a chance to specialize so that they me, work with me.” He started bringing in In his good, blunt way, he says, “You see that can face the problems that we face in America COULDN’T MAKE” people who clearly represented younger blood, building? There’s not a soul in it now. And I’m today—the problems of how to handle the tech- vitality, vision, a drive. There isn’t any call Larry losing money. When every light in that build- nology and the rapid changes in technology couldn’t make. ing is on, I’m going to give you $10 million.” that are characteristic of our society. He was never wishy-washy. He either believed He did. THE in it or he didn’t. Being a businessperson, he In other words, when the city starts to hop and TOM FRUSCIANO: Ultimately, they were able 4-),-:;018 understood profit and loss, a balance sheet, my part of it goes up, you’re coming with me. to get on such nice financial ground that they OF LARRY TISCH efficiencies of operation. could hire more faculty, expand programs, keep the academic standards up. Now you start the resurgence of NYU. Martin Scorsese’s undergraduate yearbook photo, 1964.

RED BURNS: I said to David Oppenheim, “We need a graduate department.” He said, “Why?” I said, “Because there are new technologies coming, and we’ve got to be ready for them.” I described as best I could how at moments of change you need to experiment and, most important, to play. You needed an environment that would encourage people to try new things, get rid of the old standbys and begin to see A STYLE what you could do. SIGNATURE At that moment, we received our first ship- ment of a small computer, an Omega. It’s long gone. But I noticed on the Omega there was a little sign that said, “Video out.” We started to think of what we would do with video on a computer. It wasn’t that I had a vision. It’s that every FILMAT THE SCHOOL OF THE ARTS day you put one foot in front of the other—and 56 answers presented themselves to you. MARTIN SCORSESE: I had gotten one very 57 small scholarship back in 1963. It really helped, because my parents were working in the All the world’s a stage —and the city garment district. 1979 streets the set—for MARTIN SHERIL ANTONIO: We were known for the The school is so important to me. It changed Tisch students. SCORSESE avant-garde, quirky, offbeat—somewhere my whole life. Filmmaker; mem- ber of the Tisch between Hollywood and Europe—style OUT IN FRONT School of the Arts of filmmaking. ANG LEE: I applied to five places. Nobody Dean’s Council looked at my application or gave me any SHERIL since 1995; OF THE NEW ANTONIO Honorary Doctor- GEORGE STONEY: The so-called gritty quality response except NYU, which required some Associate Arts ate, 1992; MFA, of the NYU film school comes from the Village creative work, not just academic records. Professor at Tisch Steinhardt, 1968; itself. From the exciting things that are I sent a small, silent super-8 movie I made since 2005; As- BA, Washington INTERACTIVE sistant Dean and Square College, happening all around the students. back in Taiwan, and Tisch chose me. then Associate 1964 Before that, I was a theater person, undergrad Dean for Film and SHERIL ANTONIO: New Media since Haig Manoogian was the chair in the University of Illinois theater department. TELECOMMUNICATIONS 1994; Master ANG of the undergraduate film program until he Once I started making movies I knew I had Teacher of Under- LEE passed away in 1980. He was a man of great found my medium. I learned to stay forever PROGRAM (ITP) graduate Film and Filmmaker; Hon- Television from orary Doctorate, depth and character. Like David Oppenheim, hungry, not be afraid to try and to fail. And 2000-05; held 2001; MFA, Tisch, he had incredible style. Singular artistic vision. I learned to appreciate how collaboration AT THE SCHOOL OF THE ARTS administrative and 1984 Martin Scorsese dedicated Raging Bull to him, and sharing are as much a part of learning as instructor posi- tions at Tisch from homage at the end to his teacher. individual talent or genius. 1981-94; PhD, These were men who believed that people I learned how much I didn’t know, and I Tisch, 1999; MA, ran institutions. It was about what passion you learned to enjoy the pleasure of asking and Liberal Studies, Ang Lee and 1981; BFA, Tisch, fellow Tisch had for the arts, what you truly believed in and trying and testing. Those three years were 1981 alum Spike Lee. were willing to invest your life in. probably the happiest of my life. LEADING Jill Claster. Dear Graduate: WITH THE Sawhill was a great believer in having a As you may know, NYU is faced with a problem good idea and running with it, and in sticking in providing adequate housing for students. Each year more and more students who choose to come to principles. He was not terribly moved by to NYU are forced to reconsider this choice when DEANS hearing about bureaucratic inertia, or faculty JILL CLASTER: Washington Square College, as confronted with this shortage. Something needs to sensitivities, or deans’ traditions. well as the University, had so very little in the way be done to help alleviate the present status of stu- dent housing, and as alumni you can help. We reorganized the school to be much more of student services it’s hard to believe. I inherited We at Washington Square College would like to efficient. We got a lot smarter about recruit- a very, very small staff, perfectly nice people with propose a project involving those graduates resid- ment. We learned a lot about the market. That no training as advisers. There was no counseling LQJLQWKH¿YHERURXJKVRI1HZQueens. We were that kind of appointment. /-<16 now behind it, has become one of the few major scurrying everywhere to make it possible for us She turned that school around. universities in the country seeking to expand its to say, “We’re a national university.” arts and sciences program and to hire a substantial number of new young faculty members…. ANN MARCUS: I was 32. I didn’t have a doctorate. ANYWHERE JILL CLASTER: All the undergraduate deans got I had only public-sector community college Shortage of Housing together, and we put a lot of pressure on the

experience, and so I was a real outlier for that -4;-º The university also has a serious housing short- administration. We finally began to get hous- kind of search. age, and Dr. Claster of the College of Arts and Sci- ing, but until then it was kind of catch as I came down for my interview at 8 a.m. John HQFHVDLGWKHXQLYHUVLW\ZDVORVLQJD³VLJQL¿FDQW catch can. if not large” number of students because of this. Sawhill was an early riser. I wasn’t. I knew CHANGING I had a good friend here who became a dean nothing about NYU, nothing at all. It was a very —NOVEMBER 26, 1979: EDWARD B. FISKE, at Hopkins. I saw him after he’d been there six ADMISSIONS THE NEW YORK TIMES brisk interview. months and I said, “How are you liking it?” Sawhill and I got along from the beginning. AT CAS JILL CLASTER: It was dire. We had Weinstein— He said, “They think I’m a genius. The reason I don’t think I was terribly well qualified. and a really awful dormitory on the south side they think I’m a genius is because at NYU we I had lots of ideas that probably would not fit of the park where the Juan Carlos Center is. did everything.” at NYU. But I sensed a lot of energy and The law school had Hayden Hall. But they There wasn’t a great deal of help, and so you determination from him. It was a shot in the wanted students from all over, and we didn’t got to do a lot, which actually was very interest- dark, and I thought, Why not? have enough housing for them. ing. And fun. John Brademas’s credit as he deserved. He was a man of very high mentor. I learned a lot because I very quickly congressional While John Sawhill was on a leave of ab- intellectual standards and lots of energy. His per- learned that if I wasn’t 150 percent prepared head shot. sence in Washington, Ivan Bennett, dean sonality did not rub a lot of faculty the right way. when I went to a meeting with Sawhill, I was of the School of Medicine, was appointed When I came here, the law school was not in in deep trouble. acting president of NYU. In October 1980, very strong shape. Neither was the University. He would sometimes call me up in the Sawhill resigned from NYU’s presidency There were outstandingly good people, but the middle of the day and say, “I just wanted to become the first chairman and chief general level was not what it is today—or close to know: What is the textbook they’re using executive of the United States Synthetic to it. Sawhill, when he became president, want- in the expository writing class?” Fuels Corporation, created by the feder- ed to do something about it. And he ran into a I’m supposed to remember that? al government to stimulate the develop- lot of resistance. ment of alternative energy sources. ANN MARCUS: Sawhill was respectful of the TOM BENDER: My feeling, when I arrived at NYU, deans and their process, but it was very clear John Brademas, NYU’s next president, was that the faculty recruitment policy was who was in charge. When I decided I wanted to had been a Democratic member of something like, “This one will be good enough.” try to create the midtown center [of the School Congress from Indiana for 22 years That was not good enough for Sawhill. He of Professional Studies], Larry Silverstein was and majority whip of the House of wanted to find out who’s the best person in a trustee. We were very friendly because the Representatives, its third-ranking leader. your field. Then he would say, “Why aren’t we school had the Real Estate Institute he’d estab- trying to recruit that person?” lished. I knew that he was buying the building JOHN BRADEMAS: For reelection to a 12th term It didn’t mean that we hired the best person on 42nd Street right opposite the New York in 1980, I could see that I was in difficulty. LARRY SILVERSTEIN: Suddenly, the University the next day. But it started making people think Public Library, and I thought it would be an Ronald Reagan was a highly popular candidate is beginning to function—and function quite a little bit differently about NYU. ideal midtown center. on the Republican side, and President Carter well from a scholastic standpoint. To the point Sawhill agreed to it. Then the Deans’ Council was suffering from the impact of high gas where in fall 1979 Sawhill decided to go off [on JILL CLASTER: We were in very bad shape when got very upset and said to me, “We’re going to prices and the Iran hostage crisis. I was proba- 60 leave from NYU] to Washington to take a sub- he came in. I would assume that the mandate tell Sawhill that he should have consulted with bly going to lose the election. 61 cabinet position as deputy secretary of energy, he got from the board of trustees was to do what us and that we think it’s an irresponsible move, Reading the New York Times every day in because we were in this energy crisis. he did. There was a lot of overlap in functions, in and he will probably drop the idea because he’s Indiana, I noted in the Sunday Times Week in administrative offices, a lot of waste that nobody done this to other people.” Review section, in those pages with academic RICHARD BING: If you ever walked into his office, had been paying very much attention to. Before the deans’ meeting with the president, and health positions, an ad for the position of whether it was winter, summer, fall, it was the There’s no question that, as rough as he was I went in and said to him. “John, they’re going to president of New York University. coldest. He never turned the heat on. He was about making the kinds of cuts and changes he confront you, and I just want you to know that I thought, “That sounds very interesting the first environmentalist. made, he really did set NYU back on a reason- you shouldn’t worry about disappointing me.” indeed.” I had done my undergraduate work JOHN It also allowed for very short meetings. able economic path. He just said, “Don’t worry, don’t worry.” BRADEMAS at Harvard and a year of graduate work there. He was a tough man, and he did not have any We went into the meeting, where the head President from I had been a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford ALLEN CLAXTON: He was driven. Very, very personal charm to soften the blow. He didn’t try. of the Deans’ Council told him how distressed ALLEN CLAXTON: One of the nice things Sawhill 1981–91 University, where I spent three years and wrote driven. A workaholic. Kept his eye on the ball. they were and that they thought the process set in motion, and it lived beyond him, was the a PhD dissertation. I felt I had the academic And very demanding, not warm and fuzzy. SYLVIA BARUCH: He was one of the smartest men had not been appropriate, and that it was an senior staff that came in. And some folks who background, in addition to the legislative But he was fair-minded and looking for people I’ve ever met, but very tough. More than once I went irresponsible decision. Above all, there should were here, like Jay. Sawhill elevated Jay, if you will. experience in the field of higher education, who would help carry out his vision. home crying because of how difficult he was. be consultation between the deans and the We got along with each other and really that might qualify me for this position. He made it clear to us that if we weren’t On the other hand, you couldn’t be sloppy president on something this important because supported each other. The folks who came after On Wednesday morning after my defeat, comfortable with the way he was going, maybe with him, so I learned a lot. If I wrote some- we had to sign a 10-year lease. Sawhill retained a lot of us. Which, in higher edu- I telephoned the mayor of the city of New York, we should work someplace else. thing that was 10 pages and there was a mis- Sawhill didn’t blink. He just looked at him cation, when presidents change, is very unusual. Edward I. Koch, whose whip I had been in the take on page 3 in the footnote, he caught it. and said, “I appreciate your feedback. You’re House of Representatives. NAOMI LEVINE: He was the most difficult man I He was that kind of person. right. We should consult about it. So tell me JOHN SAWHILL: I think NYU is a prototype of the Ed said, “I’m sorry, John, what are you going ever worked for. But in retrospect I can tell you The University was in terrible shape finan- what you think.” university of the future. The great universities to do now?” if it weren’t for John Sawhill, the University cially, and I do believe he made it possible for Those deans were pretty shocked. They punked that emerge over the next 50 years will be insti- I said, “I’d like to be president of New York would have died then and there. us to survive. around for a minute, and no one said anything. tutions dealing with the city in the active and University.” So that was that—and we went ahead with it. aggressive way we are. They will be institutions Koch said, alluding to our just-defeated vice NORMAN DORSEN: In my opinion, he’s been JILL CLASTER: I have to say, I learned a lot from Sawhill was always my hero because he was that have the kind of diversity and range of president, “If Mondale doesn’t want it, I’m underrated and has not been given as much him. I didn’t learn a lot because he was a willing to take the long view and stick to his guns. programs we do. for you.” 1981-1991 JOHN 62 BRADEMAS 63

the Ambassador LARGETHINKING

64 65

JOHN BRADEMAS: When I arrived, I perceived NYU as a regional, New York/New Jersey/Con- necticut commuter institution. My goal was to transform it into a national and international residential and research university. I don’t want to say that a decision was made, “Eureka! We’re going to change this university.” But my view was, “We’re in New York City. This JOHN is the greatest city in the world. Let’s make O’CONNOR this the greatest university possible.” Vice President for University JOHN O’CONNOR: Relations from The institution was fairly 1988–96; quiet. The person who was running the Executive president’s office turned off the Xerox machine Assistant to the President from and the lights at 5. 1981–96; MS, By 5:15, there was no one around. Wagner, 1987

John Brademas. “IT WASN’T

PRETTY” SHERIL ANTONIO: One of our students was stabbed in the park for refusing drugs from THE PROBLEM somebody. It wasn’t a pretty place. JOHN O’CONNOR: At one point the police com- OF THE PARK missioner, Ben Ward, said, “The park is a prob- lem because it’s the students buying drugs.” We said, “Okay, any student who’s caught 1981 buying drugs, go ahead and arrest them.” A few days later, the police did a big raid in the park. The first person arrested was a retired police officer.

JOHN BRADEMAS: When I left my apartment on Washington Square West, I noticed a lot of drug dealers in the park. I called Mayor Koch, and I said, “Ed, I’ve got to sit down and talk with you.” 66 He brought the parks commissioner and the 67 inspector of the 6th Precinct. I said, “We have thousands of students here, thousands of faculty and staff, parents visiting, tourists from all over the world—and this situa- tion is intolerable.” Mayor Koch came through. He gave us strong JOHN O’CONNOR: When my wife and I first moved support from the police. here, we lived on the west side of the Square. It was a somewhat complicated neighborhood. My NAOMI LEVINE: Improving the park was not a daughter learned her colors by the colors of the public relations activity. Improving the park crack vials in Washington Square Park. meant working with the police department. We had wonderful relations with the captains Crack literally changed the entire face of the city. in this area. TONY I know of no other drug, except maybe LSD in MOVSHON its heyday, that caused such a social change…. Public relations has to be a reflection of Director of the Street violence had grown. Child abuse had something real, not phony. In order to give grown hugely. Spousal abuse. I had a special crack Center for Neural Greenwich Village or Washington Square Science since YLROHQFH¿OHWKDW,NHSWWRFRQYLQFHWKHJHQLXVHV 2004 and from in Washington who kept telling me it wasn’t a Park a good PR face, you had to make it 1993–98 and problem…. It got that thick—horror stories that a better place. you couldn’t believe.” 1987–91; Profes- But the city itself started to improve down sor of Psychology since 1975, of –ROBERT STUTMAN, DEA SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE OF here, and we were the beneficiaries of the THE NEW YORK OFFICE IN 1985 Neural Science change in Greenwich Village. It was the city since 1987, and TONY MOVSHON: You could get anything you that improved the park, and it was the of Physiology and Neuroscience wanted in the park. It was a great center of city police department that cleaned up the since 1990 urban commerce. drug issues. RECREATED AS DIVISION

S AS REC IC RUI ET TM HL E T N III A T 1986

We talked to University of Chicago, thinking. “Boy, if we could get them, that would be some- thing, because the Ivy League’s always trying to get them.” Emory University in Atlanta. Johns 68 NYU students had no athletic center Hopkins. Brandeis, although they didn’t come 69 before the Jerome S. Coles Sports Center The University Athletic Association, a na- in until the second year. opened in September 1981. tional Division III intercollegiate athletic It was an attempt to create a student activity association of major urban research uni- environment that had some class. You’ll be in- RUSS HAMBERGER: In 1981, with the opening of versities, was based on academic simi- volved with institutions where you’ll be proud Coles, the era of being in big-time athletics had larities instead of athletic comparisons. to see the flags that are flying around your gym. passed. We weren’t going to put in the money When the UAA began in 1986, NYU was I wanted in on that. I wanted to involve NYU to give athletic scholarships. And we certainly among its founding members. in a level of acceptance in the educational weren’t going to—as we were trying to improve structure of the United States that would be our academic standards—lower standards to JAY OLIVA: Were we going to join the Ivy League? helpful in all aspects—the recruitment of admit a student because of athletic skills. Not likely. We already had an Ivy League faculty, the recruitment of students. The conclusion was that we should go into university in town. So the next question was, I would go to Chicago, and we would invite the Division III non-athletic scholarship Where are the institutions that think the way everybody who was thinking about NYU, and category of the NCAA. we do about student life, about the role of the then I would give a big yak to get them all Once we built Coles, we got a whole new city, and about the notion that the city can be to come. cohort of students who were interested in BOB the next classroom? It was a recruitment device. It was a applying. We tracked it. In the admissions KIVETZ We had a conversation with the chancellor marketing device. It was a notion that we Vice President for application, you sent in a card that indicated Auxiliary Services of Washington University in St. Louis and with were somebody. That we deserved to be in if you had played sports in high school—and and then Global the president of the University of Rochester. If the classiest company in the country. the number of those went from practically Campus Services we were going to play athletics, it would be so since 2003; BOB KIVETZ: none to a couple of thousand. Director and then much more sensible to play with schools that Jay was thinking that athletics Assistant Vice thought the same way, recruited the same way, were also a key to building community. He President for and treated athletics the same way—and also was always very involved with the teams. Housing and Res- idence Life from connected athletes with students they were go- Especially basketball. 1987–2003 ing to keep as friends for a very, very long time. He would be at every single game. AROUND THE WORLD JAY OLIVA: Now the question was: Is John Brade-  mas going to spend all his time trying to figure WITH out where we’ve been or is he going to look to the future and get out there with his tin cup and “NO FANCY CASE JOHN BRADEMAS: When I arrived at NYU in 1981, JOHN BRADEMAS: start raising some money? And tell Jay to get the I found that we were not raising enough money NYU INTERNATIONAL institution organized in an appropriate way. STATEMENTS” to support a great university in the heart of We were coming out of a tough time, when New York City. I was accustomed to raising you had to know who did what to whom, who funds. And I was accustomed to making was talking to whom, who hated whom. I knew $1 Million a Week speeches. I announced a target of $1 million LARRY SILVERSTEIN: John took over and, wow, JOHN O’CONNOR: When leaders came, they where all the bodies were buried. a week for 100 weeks in private contributions. suddenly doors around the globe started would bring their press corps with them. for 100 Weeks to open. Because there isn’t anybody John The New York press corps would show up. LARRY SILVERSTEIN: Jay became the inside man, JOHN O’CONNOR: The campaign did not have Brademas did not know. From heads of state TV cameras would show up. On the one hand, John Brademas, the outside man. Larry [Tisch] fancy case statements. With Naomi Levine, with to royalty, they came. it’s the person, but on the other, it’s the visual, and the board: It all functioned exquisitely. Jay Oliva, with John O’Mara, who was the head and everyone is seeing it’s at NYU. Things really began to happen. of Institutional Facilities, everyone sat down JOHN BRADEMAS: I already had an interest in A lot of this was pre-Internet, pre-24-hour and said, “Let’s just start raising money.” international studies. To speak of what is cable news. There weren’t as many things perhaps closest to my heart, I invited the king happening, so you could get more attention. NAOMI LEVINE: We were always worried that of Spain, Juan Carlos I, to come to Washington After one or two world leaders come, then NYU we wouldn’t meet our goal. We knew that if we Square, where I awarded him an honorary becomes the place that when you’re in New York, didn’t, there wouldn’t be enough money to do degree. We created a professorship in his name. you go to NYU. It starts to build on itself. the things we wanted to do. I brought François Mitterrand, Boris Yeltsin. Students were invited to these events. They be- THE PROVOST In a sense, you’re in crisis every single day. As a legislator, you think of appropriate came excited, because they were able to call their Were we going to make it? It was always in my 70 ways of publicizing what you’re up to. In like parents and say, “I met the leader of a country.” AND THE mind, and I can assure you it was in the mind 71 fashion, as a university president you want to of the presidents all the time. call attention to the advances being made by PRESIDENT: your university in order to encourage students JOHN BRADEMAS: We had this terrific board of to come, to encourage outstanding faculty to trustees, who were strongly supportive. At the welcome invitations—and to raise funds. Securing the Academy same time, clearly a product of my experience in with Jay Oliva government, I said, “We have to give more atten- tion to generating support for New York Universi- Boris Yeltsin after MARTY LIPTON: a speech at NYU Jay Oliva, who had been the dean ty from state funds and from federal money.” School of Law at the Heights campus, had already become the I worked closely with Lynne Brown, who had in 1991, shortly provost of the University. By 1981, Oliva was the been in charge of research in my office when after being elected president of the true academic leader, creating the new reputa- I was the whip of the House of Representatives. Russian Republic. tion of the University, very articulate and heavily She had done her PhD at Johns Hopkins on involved in academic and cultural circles. majority leadership in the US House of Repre- sentatives, so she knew a lot about Congress. RICH STANLEY: John trusted Jay’s vision for We strengthened our lines to Albany and to the University. John focused on acquiring the Washington, DC. resources that were going to be necessary to When I went back to Capitol Hill a few months support that vision. He did the work in Wash- after having been the president of NYU and saw ington, laying the ground for earmarks that some of my former colleagues, they asked, “John, l to r: Jay Oliva, built the neuroscience program, for example. John Brademas, what’s it like being a university president?” It was a good partnership, because Jay’s and the NYU I said, “When I was here, I made a lot of background was in academic strength. And “bobcat” mascot. speeches, I was a public person, I raised money, John knew everybody in the world. I resolved conflicts, I wrestled with massive egos. In short, I feel very much at home.” BILLIE TISCH: The professional leadership of NYU l to r: Bob Tisch, By the end of 1984, the University had exceeded wasn’t looking at a minor institution, but it was very good. The board was developing into a John Brademas, its goal, generating $110 million in two years. As was nothing like what it is now. Anne Jackson, Eli a result of this effort, NYU established nineteen group of thoughtful people who were not afraid Wallach, unknown endowed professorships in the Faculty of Arts At that time, Jay Oliva, under John, was try- to raise funds and to wrestle with the financial person, and Joe ing to fill the dean of Arts and Science posi- Papp. and Science, School of Law, and the School of problems. It was very much of a team effort. Medicine to attract eminent scholars and to rec- tion at NYU. I don’t quite know how I came to ognize those at the university who had marked distinction. their attention, but eventually I was asked to JONATHAN TISCH: I remember my father [Bob JONATHAN come down. I had not forgotten the Brademas Tisch] would come home and talk about a board TISCH – THOMAS J. FRUSCIANO AND MARILYN H. PETTIT, speech—that the image of the University was NEW YORK UNIVERSITY AND THE CITY: meeting or about just getting together with Member of Tisch one of dynamism and outward-looking. So I Dean’s Council AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY, 1997 some of the other leaders of New York—whether since 1994; mem- took it very seriously. elected officials or private citizens—who were ber of the School To this day, I find it slightly strange that John very concerned that NYU needed to become the of Professional and Jay decided they would have someone from Studies Dean’s university it is today, because of its ties to New Council from a small place for what was quite an important York City. 2003–05 job. I was very fortunate. It was a wonderfully receptive community. BILLIE TISCH: Larry felt a special responsibility. I do remember during my first year the number He could see what could possibly happen at of people I met whom I regarded highly. On NYU, so in the beginning he gave some gifts to the other hand, the number of people whom support pieces he felt had particular promise. THE ACADEMIC I would regard as internationally competitive He was also given responsibilities that normal- research scholars was relatively low. Yet very, ly would not have been his interest but were CONNOISSEUR: very few were not committed to the institution. important for NYU. There was a genuine devotion to teaching in Case in point was the School of the Arts, DUNCAN RICE most of the departments in Arts and Science. 72 which now bears the name the Tisch School 73 of the Arts. It was a brand-new program, and JAY OLIVA: In American higher education, the Larry had no experience in the arts. He loved best universities founded themselves on the music, but it was really peripheral to his centrality of Arts and Science. What bothered major interests. me most about the history of the University But he felt responsible, so he helped it grow. was that we were very largely a professionally oriented institution. LARRY TISCH: I had mixed emotions about If you wanted to know what the classy places having our name on the building. But I work here would be, you would have said, business, on the theory that there should be some because of Wall Street; medicine, in association Jewish names on the university campuses of with the Health Alley on First Avenue; and law, ¹?0A;07=4, America. Why should it always be a Morgan which was the classy school of the place. or Rockefeller? Let people at the universities In Arts and Science, you would’ve said there know that there’s Jewish money coming into DUNCAN DUNCAN RICE: When I was dean of Hamilton are only two places where we ever liked to take the university world. RICE College, I was invited to the inauguration of a bow—the Courant Institute and the Institute 1<)4?)A;*-) Vice Chancellor That’s happened tremendously over the last from 1991–96; John Brademas. of Fine Arts. And they were the two places that 40 years in America. I thought that in the long Dean of the Long before I knew much about NYU, I was liked to stay away from the University as much 57:/)67: run it was the right thing to do. Faculty of Arts able to register Brademas’s extraordinary vis- as possible. and Science from 1985–94; ion, the flash of what he said about connections Honorary between public service and private universities, KATHLEEN WEIL-GARRIS BRANDT: The Institute :7+3-.-44-:'º Doctorate, 2004 and the global reach. That was the beginning. of Fine Arts never had any relation to Wash- NYU was well thought of, to the extent that I ington Square. It really was a kind of floating Tisch School of the Arts knew about it, but heavily concentrated on New undertaking. It had the money to function at York as a city. And very much, if I may say so, all because of private donations. And still today 1982 under the shadow of Columbia. Obviously, one it has its own board of trustees. THE

JESS funnel lines, funds, to that department. He was At least from Brademas onward, there was a That was a world that NYU was aspiring to. It BENHABIB wise enough to realize he couldn’t build all the decision that money should be spent in partic- was simply in Duncan’s blood. He really got it— Senior Vice Provost for Planning from departments at once. You take the ones that are ular areas with potential, as opposed to areas this notion of tying the University to the city, 2005–08; Dean ready and you let the other ones sit for a while. with strength. That is where Arts and Science to integrate nonacademic intellectuals and (NON) for Social Sciences It didn’t make them happy. But he was was the huge beneficiary. intellectual professions with the University, from 1997–2000; Professor of trusted enough that everybody knew their turn in informal as well as formal ways. ;<:)<-/A Economics since would come. TOM BENDER: He brought an elitist understand- FOR THE FACULTY OF ARTS AND SCIENCE (FAS) 1980 and of ing of the life of learning and of the University. FARHAD KAZEMI: Based on discussions with Political Economy DUNCAN RICE: since 1991; Chair I was lucky that because Brade- He was unashamed to say that he wanted to Jay, the department chairs, and his kitchen of the Department mas thought big and because Oliva was utterly make the strongest possible appointments, the cabinet, Duncan chose six departments in Arts FARHAD KAZEMI: The issue we were always With Courant as an underpinning and with of Economics from supportive of him, I was allowed to do things best person anywhere. and Science for special attention—some from 1993–96 and discussing in Arts and Science was, “Why isn’t a very strong medical school, John and Jay had from 1984–87 without too much interference. humanities, some from social sciences, some Arts and Science the center of this University the capacity to build on what they had and from sciences—and asked them to come up as it is in every other place?” move increasingly into the kinds of science with special reports about how they could go to that proved their reputation—by bringing in the next level. TONY MOVSHON: When I came, NYU was a bunch NSF money and Hughes money and National Two of them were economics and political of professional schools with a semi-vacuum in Institutes of Health money. science. In the humanities, we chose history the middle where Arts and Science was sup- The final plank in the strategy was that NYU and philosophy—analytic philosophy in partic- posed to be. But I can’t imagine that anybody was of the city and in the city, but it was also ular. Another was psychology. And we created actually wanted it to be that way. compulsively and conceptually global. Being the Center for Neural Science. Mathematics was You can’t become a lawyer without being a an inner-city university could be a source of already a top department, with some autonomy. historian. You can’t become a doctor without strength, but you can’t be only city-based, A lot of funding was put into the six, and all being a biologist. You can’t become a computer because if you’re only city-based you can’t of them improved. Of course, economics and the 74 programmer without being a mathematician. compete in the real-world rankings. social sciences improved dramatically, becoming 75 You need all the fundamental disciplines before among the top 10 departments in their fields. you can excel anywhere else. TOM BENDER: Duncan Rice was an experienced administrator, although in a small college. And JESS BENHABIB: It took 15, 20 years to build DUNCAN RICE: NYU did have a strategy, but it a European, which I think may be important economics. First, there was a deliberate focus was a very rudimentary one, in the sense that in the particular vision of intellectual life he on attracting the best scholars we could from it had only a few premises. had. He had a manner that enabled him to around the country. We were very entrepre- One was the Brademas premise of self-confi- work with people, persuading rather than neurial. Every decision, every dollar spent was dence—that if you think you’re awfully good, browbeating. And he had very good taste. for that purpose. and simply take it as an entitlement to be One of the things he decided was crucial was Then we used to look at mistakes that other thought of as being good, then you will become very strong chairs who would represent a com- places were making. Sometimes, Harvard and good and you will be regarded as good. That’s mitment to quality at the departmental level if he Yale would make mistakes. In fact, Columbia a self-reinforcing cycle. was going to represent it at the FAS level. He want- would make mistakes. They wouldn’t promote A second premise, shared equally between ed department chairs who had a strong enough somebody on time or wouldn’t pay them Brademas and Oliva, is that in a major universi- national or even international reputation that enough. We were always ready and hungry for ty anywhere in the world, Arts and Science has they owed nothing to him and didn’t need him, those people. to be at the center. The reason is that the great who could walk away from the chairmanship if As a department, we couldn’t change the theoretical questions, which inform every dis- they thought he was going the wrong way. undergraduate student body. The University’s cipline, including the professional disciplines, And he was willing to put up with the kind of reputation counts there. But the graduate are the ones that get thrashed out in Arts and debate and conflict that meant. Because it also students respond, with a lag, to the quality Science departments. meant that the standards he believed in were of the faculty in individual departments. We Next, an understanding that in the modern going to be reinforced at the department level. started rising in the rankings. People knew, day and age you can’t be strong as a university, Those chairs had to bring the departments along. “Oh, so-and-so is here.” even strong in Arts and Science, unless you go Not all of the departments were ready. But Now it’s extremely competitive—very, very beyond having sciences—and have big science. when a department was ready, Rice would hard to get into. And our students are excellent, really stunning. There were several people who thought that BUILDING over. One person who was particularly important “A The reason this leads back to neuroscience is was the vice chancellor at the time, Sylvia Baruch. that if you assume that you’re not going to be Sylvia was a very astute administrator. Not MAJOR, BIG SCIENCE a biology operation of the sort that some of the a scientist, but she knew who to ask and she California places have, you ask yourself: How can knew how to make judgments. we get into biological sciences at the absolute SYLVIA BARUCH: MAJOR top level without having to do the whole lot, and The Center for Neural Science WITH LITTLE MONEY therefore use lots of money we haven’t got? is a good example of a lot of things we did right. THE CENTER FOR Neuroscience is one subset of biological There was general agreement that we needed ISSUE” sciences, arguably—and many people would to build the sciences. The sciences, aside from NEURAL SCIENCE disagree—the subset of biological sciences Courant, were in fairly bad shape. There were Obsessed with Recruitment where some of the most exciting things of our sources of excellence, but we needed a flagship generation are happening. We had strength in science effort that would point to the future. neuroscience because of Tony Movshon. Duncan’s recommendation was neural Jay and John were letting me do what I science. We had a dean who knew how to make JESS BENHABIB: I think Sylvia Baruch managed thought was best. I gave Movshon most, if not academic judgments. Not everybody does, but to keep him. She fought the fight, not just over all, of what he wanted. He then brought Bob Duncan repeatedly did. personal compensation. What people ask is, Shapley from Rockefeller University. But there was also Tony Movshon, a faculty “What researchers will you give me for the All of a sudden, we had a major operation member who had the passion, the know-how, department so I can build it up?” in neuroscience, specializing in systems neuro- the academic credentials to serve as the linchpin. Most academics are not in it for the money. science, where a lot of the work was the mathe- We attracted a lot of people like that to be Of course, they want more money, but they matical modeling of neurological processes. department chairs. We always hired people who FARHAD KAZEMI: Recruitment for Duncan Rice 76 are basically in it to make a mark. And what’s When you have people in motion, they have had fire in their belly, who had an idea, who became a major, major issue and a very success- 77 most important to them is to have good a halo effect on everything that you’re doing. had a commitment, and who had a good shot ful one—so much so that we began getting of- BOB BERNE: Neuroscience got its start under Jay colleagues. They want other people who are In completely different subjects, your leverag- at doing what they said they were going to do. fers for our top faculty from great institutions. and John. good researchers. ing and attracting people of very high quality Duncan’s approach was that if you as depart- I’m sure Tony drove a hard bargain. Luckily tend to be greater. TONY MOVSHON: We started doing all of the ment chair hear that faculty member X is being JESS BENHABIB: Tony Movshon in neuroscience, he did, and it was accepted. things that centers are supposed to do. We recruited by Harvard, try to get in before he or an extraordinary initiative out of nothing. He TONY MOVSHON: There really wasn’t anybody in hired faculty, we started a doctoral program. she goes for the interview. If you want to keep was about to leave—and then we managed to DUNCAN RICE: It’s a complicated story, and in the central administration who understood how We started mapping out a research program. the person, try to stop the process and offer keep him. He was a force. the end it was a success story. The difficulty was planning for science worked. But the institution A couple of years in, we started to think whatever he needs as quickly as possible. that there’s a limit to what you can do in terms was always fluid, it was creative, it was innovative, about an undergraduate program, and a couple Several times we kept some first-class faculty. TONY MOVSHON: In 1985, I was offered a job at of big science by trying to reproduce every disci- and it was willing to be entrepreneurial. of years after that we got a grant from the Quality was his preoccupation. MIT in what became the department of brain pline to its full level. At the same time, it always wanted to reserve Howard Hughes Medical Institute to start it. and cognitive science, one of the great depart- Let’s suppose NYU had said: We’ve got the right to go forward if it had the cash in In those days, it was very simple. There was JESS BENHABIB: The interesting thing about ments in my field. adequate physics, but we want to have great hand—and stop if it didn’t. This year, we’ve got the dean in charge of saying yes, and that was FAS was that it was poor, relative to the rest of It was a good offer from a good place—the physics, with all the classical areas of physics some money. We’ll give it to you and you can Duncan. And there was the dean in charge of the University. So it wasn’t only money. It was usual career move. I assumed I would go. represented. We’ve got a little bit of biology, but do something with it. Next year, we’re a little saying no, someone called Anne Burton, who good leadership and judgment. And depart- Two people managed to persuade me not we want to have across-the-board coverage of short, so you can go hungry. was his associate dean. ment chairs with vision and determination to move. One was my department chair, Dick modern molecular biology. We’ve got a couple The point I made to them was you can’t You knew what the outcome of your request and persistence. Koppenaal. And the other was the new dean of of good people in chemistry, but we want to do actually build a scientific enterprise like that. was by learning who your appointment was the Faculty of Arts and Science, Duncan Rice. the straight chemistry, organic chemistry. I said, “Look, here’s a five-year budget. Here’s with. It was perfectly straightforward—and FARHAD KAZEMI: You could see the reverbera- He knew he had a problem in the sciences. It’s out of the question, because the costs would what we want to do not only this year but next everybody understood how it worked. tions of change. Quality faculty, new centers, He needed to build something and saw that have been utterly beyond us. Equally important, year and the year after and the year after. If you Remember, Duncan was a historian. He interdisciplinarity that Duncan pushed neuroscience might be an opportunity. Duncan you’re dealing with loft buildings in this part of want us to do this, you have to sign off on the didn’t know neuroscience from a hole in the very successfully. encouraged me to start building the Center for New York City that have code strictures about whole package. You can’t just say, ‘We’ll see wall. Yet we were one of the first neuroscience The rest of us helped him, but he was the Neural Science. what you can build and what you can’t. how it looks next year.’” units to form in an Arts and Science context. key leader. Professor RICH STANLEY: NYU was very well-served by the RICHARD BING: You had an institution that had Tony Judt. THE FIXER They were the group of people that called fact that it had financial people who didn’t been traumatized and was very reluctant to themselves the Gang of Four. It was Jay and Sylvia view themselves solely as financial people. They make investments. But a number of the trust- GOING TO SYLVIA and Allen and Dick who met once a week to coor- understood Jay’s vision and the general goals. ees, including Larry Tisch and Leonard Stern, dinate budget and planning issues. Sylvia was vice They knew that the financial underpinning was said, “We’ve got to change the dynamic.” DUNCAN RICE: I was extraordinarily fortunate chancellor, Allen was chief financial officer, and going to be essential to making them work. They How do you do that? You do something that during my time at NYU that nobody paid too Dick was the budget director. saw themselves as people who were a part of a some people would consider risky—you build much attention to the bottom line. And every day after a Gang of Four meeting, team that was trying to deliver a vision. residence halls. And how do you build? Well, you I don’t mean that Jay and the people who I would have a load of things to do. So they were willing to take a lot of chances have to borrow. And what does borrowing mean? worked under him, like Sylvia Baruch, didn’t on investments in things that we didn’t know It means you have debt on your balance sheet— know the price of a pound. Or that they were ALLEN CLAXTON: One of the nice things about how were going to be successful. Some of the which means you have to pay for debt service. irresponsible with University money. But it was we managed under Sawhill and Brademas is that residence hall projects: We had to take on a fair And it wasn’t just borrowing money to do made fairly clear that if I had an intuitive sense the turf lines were not clear. It could be very free- amount of debt and risk that they were going dorms. We were also borrowing to improve that we should go after a particular scholar, or wheeling—whether about building dorms or food to be full when they opened up, without being the capital infrastructure. if I thought there was a program that would or security. It was a collegial, open, broad-topic absolutely sure they would be. The first time you do it, it’s like having a help the University in reputational terms, then environment, unique to NYU, that my colleagues party: Is anybody going to come? I wasn’t going to be asked too many precise and in other universities didn’t have. ALLEN CLAXTON: We had to raise tuitions, interfering questions about whether that might although now those tuition levels look like RICH STANLEY: Each year we would put together be financially risky. SYLVIA BARUCH: My role was important but miracles. It was part of my job to make sure that relatively aggressive enrollment forecasts and It’s true that there was probably less mystery limited. It was to agree with Duncan on which the ugly concept of a budget deficit didn’t rear tuition revenue forecasts that other financial over the budget by the time I left than there areas he was going to spend the money on and its head. That was the main goal of the financial officers might have been really, really nervous had been before. But the day-to-day, week-to- where he was going to hire. side of the house. Dick Bing, as budget director, about, allowing faculty hiring to take place based week, month-by-month budgets were not what We rebuilt philosophy. We rebuilt the biology was critical. We always balanced the budget. on fairly aggressive estimates of how successful 78 defined the capacity to go out if, for instance, department just about from scratch. We built the recruiting structure was going to be. But 79 we wanted to recruit a Jerry Seigel [professor of neural science. Dick and Allen were really good about raising the history] from Princeton. All of those were quite costly, so we would issues that should be of concern but not trying to That’s the kind of thing where I would go to have to agree, not only in terms of building stand in the way. Sylvia Baruch. the faculty, but that faculty housing would be If we had gone much more slowly in that available, and lab space, and maybe graduate kind of investment in the institution, it would RICH STANLEY: Much of what I know about student aid, depending on what was necessary have taken a long, long time—and probably university administration I learned from Sylvia. for those recruits. wouldn’t have been anywhere near as success- She was a fixer, a behind-the-scenes person. She I always interviewed department chairs. ful in building what got built in a remarkably had known Jay from his days at the Heights. But I can’t think of any instance when Duncan short period of time. When he was articulating a vision, she was the brought me somebody and I thought it was It was a very small team, supported by some one to turn it into specifics to be implemented not a good idea. very good deans. But it was a remarkably and then figure out whose arms had to get Sometimes there were other people. For thinned administration in those days, consid- twisted in order to get it done. example, when Phil Furmanski chaired the ering how big the institution was and all the Ostensibly, her role was to make sure that the biology department, he wanted to bring in things that were happening. budgetary side aligned with what was going two plant biologists. People saw working on a shoestring as being to happen on the hiring side. But through that I said to Duncan, “We’re in the middle of just the NYU way of doing business. process, she was able to exert an awful lot of in- New York City. Why is he bringing in plant biol- fluence and help deans think through intelligent ogists?” It shows the level of naiveté I had about DUNCAN RICE: Things were ruled from the recruiting strategies—how to build clusters of what was happening in biology at the time. center with a very, very light hand indeed. That strength in subdisciplines within a department. He said, “I’m not going to talk about this meant, for instance, that one could go after The smart deans saw her as a confidant. A lot of anymore. Phil is going to come see you.” scholars who might not immediately look as deans were able to bounce ideas off her, float trial Phil came in and made the excellent intellec- if they would be able to earn their keep. balloons that she could then work through with tual case for bringing on two plant biologists— ON A SHOESTRING Tony Judt is a classic case. Was it worth the Jay or with Allen Claxton or Dick Bing. and so we did. RISKADMINISTERING WITH VISION money to bring in Judt to begin with? Was it worth the money to prevent him from going back I really liked NYU, which had a certain kind 1984 to Oxford when Isaiah Berlin’s chair went vacant? of insecurity to try to prove that it was as good The answer in strict bottom-line terms is as Columbia, a certain kind of entrepreneurial MARIE MARIE SCHWARTZ: He had a board that was very almost certainly not. But in reputational terms, energy. It felt immensely liberating. SCHWARTZ from supportive and willing to help out. They kept Member of the bringing someone with that brain quality as a Duncan Rice was absolutely credible when NYU Board of seeing what needed to be done to improve the public intellectual, an author of work that is read he said that he wanted to make NYU a serious- Trustees since +755=<-: University. In John Brademas, they had a person 1973  not just in the academy but outside the academy: ly great university, particularly the arts and who listened to them and did something about it. It was a wild risk in an accounting sense to go sciences, without compromising in the least after Tony Judt and then to invest money in him— traditional scholarly, academic values. TO JOHN BRADEMAS: In 1984, I announced a new but, in my estimation, not the slightest doubt That was a combination of intellectual seri- goal of $1 billion in private contributions to that risk paid off. ousness and streetwise entrepreneurship that New York University by the year 2000. I thought very exciting, so I came. It was 1987. TONY JUDT: I’d been teaching at Oxford for seven I was a successful full professor, but what was TONY NATIONAL NAOMI LEVINE: I’m very cautious as a fundraiser. years. Those were the beginning of the Thatcher important to NYU was that it wanted and could JUDT I didn’t pick that number out of the blue. It Director of the Re- years in England, when significant cuts were bring someone from Oxford. marque Institute The Billion-Dollar worked out so that I didn’t have to raise more being made in public expenditure on higher The next year, Jerry Seigel, a very good friend from 1995–2010; than 200 or 250 million a year to reach, in 10 or education. The whole concept of liberal edu- of mine who was absolutely fascinating, left Professor of Euro- Campaign 15 years, the billion dollars. pean Studies, His- cation, of humanities in particular, was being Princeton to come here. tory, and French But putting in the package of a billion made drawn into question. So that was a push factor Anyone could get a 65-year-old who’s about to Studies from it sound extraordinary and gave it a certain in the ’80s for me. retire anyway to come to a university if you pay 1987–2010; Dean excitement. When you run campaigns, that’s for Humanities The pull factor was the atypicality of NYU. I him enough money. You try and get a 38-year- from 1993–95 what you’re looking for. came here really because I was invited by Tom old to leave Oxford or Princeton or Harvard, it Bender, who was then the chair of the history had better be interesting. ALLEN CLAXTON: One of the usual points of, I’ll 80 department, and the late Nicholas Wahl, who call it, disagreement between the fundraising 81 was the director of the Institute of French Studies. side and the finance side at any university is For me, it was an extremely interesting that numbers are not only cash but prospective. position, a job halfway between the history de- That is, not really cash in the hand. partment, which is the more conventional part So we think, “Oh, we’ve got all this money.” of the job, and the French institute, which was Except we don’t. It’s coming, or someone’s a unique establishment devoted to contempo- going to die and we’ll be in their estate. rary France, but not necessarily primarily the That sometimes created a little bit of, “Let’s language and literature, like most places. not oversell the expectations.” It seemed a very open-ended position. I was But we got along fine with the development told that anything I wanted to do in terms of the JOHN BRADEMAS: One was always concerned side. Naomi and I would challenge each other teaching or the sort of research projects I set up about money, about having enough money because I thought we gave away naming things would have the full support of the University. to carry out your objectives. Particularly too cheaply, particularly if we weren’t getting Duncan was very Scottish. He had a kind of important was adequate funding for student cash right away. puritanical seriousness that was convincing to financial assistance. That was just a natural tension, shared with someone like me. But I really cannot tell you that I suffered other universities, too, that people wanted What Duncan said was, “I want you to come great anguish. I was enjoying what I was to exaggerate the value of what they were here and work with me to make this the kind of doing—and we were making progress. getting and what we were giving away for it. place you want to be at.” And Naomi wanted to close the deal. NAOMI LEVINE: There was Columbia University, which was l to r: Naomi Brademas brought new people She was good. And in the long run, it really an Ivy League, a sort of university I would rec- Levine, Larry to the board, but he did something else. John helped. Because when people see people giving ognize immediately. And then there was NYU, Silverstein, Larry Brademas gave us a classy look. He was very, money, they don’t look at the details of how much Tisch, John Brade- the Avis of the university industry. Sure, we’re mas, Jay Oliva, and very smart on PR and how you used the press. is in a will. They like to give money to success. number two, but we try harder. trustee George He had dinner after dinner. He was a very so- As we proved we were successful, that made Heyman. cial, charming president, and people liked him. Naomi’s job a lot easier. In the early 1980s, the East Village still SALLY father drove me up to Weinstein. He looked at the trying to expand our residential capacity. conjured up images of drugs and Bowery ARTHUR city and looked at the dorm and he said, “Let’s go So, embarrassing to say, we actually rented Assistant Vice home. I’ll drive you back now.” And I said, “No bums, leading to the injunction, “Don’t park President for way, no way.” I was literally in Oz. [He grew up in welfare hotels. I traipsed all over Manhattan east of Broadway.” No one would venture Student Life from Ohio. Both parents were factory workers.] looking at these places. We also started an into Alphabet City at night. People who lived 1990–2003; off-campus housing office. The University rent- Director of AB (laughing): Weinstein does look like the li- there did not want development, which they Student Life from brary at a community college in the Soviet Union. ed apartments, and then we rerented them to saw as the beginning of a gentrification 1984–89 students. We were really scrounging around. wave that would eventually displace them. The Jerome S. CC: Right (laugh), exactly. But I immediately fell Coles Sports LQORYHZLWKWKHFLW\DQG,NQHZ,KDGWR¿QGD SALLY ARTHUR: But housing was essential to the transfor- Center opened in way to succeed, or I would be back in the middle We had students in the Hotel mation of the University. 1981. of Ohio working in an aluminum factory. Seville [at 22 East 29th Street], and we had one

—SEPTEMBER 16, 2013 on 42nd Street. You had to supply transporta- tion from the hotels to campus, back and forth. RICH STANLEY: When I arrived, in 1977, there RICH STANLEY: Jay identified not only the We got rid of them as soon as we could. were nowhere near enough dorms to house academic development—the things that needed the number of students we had or wanted to to be done within the departments to build the LEONARD STERN: One day I got a call from a attract. Students either lived at home or they strength of the faculty—but he early on articu- broker that a couple of pieces of land were lived all around the city and commuted to lated the need for a very good recreation center, available on Third Avenue. The attraction was take their classes. and the need for new and attractive dormito- that if a school board bought it, there was a It’s hard to point to a strong, successful ries that were within walking distance of the 20 percent construction bonus. university that operates on that basis, where campus, and the need for a student center: the So I called to get what it cost. $20 million. Then everybody disappears when they’re not in infrastructure that would cause somebody to I called Larry Silverstein, one of the main real class, including the faculty. say, “I’d like to live here.” estate people on the board. He thought it was a terrific idea. I called Larry Tisch. I described the 82 SALLY ARTHUR: NYU was a sleeping dog in BOB KIVETZ: The first week I was here, we were two parcels of land. None of us had done pencil- 83 many regards. There was an intentional plan at a hotel meeting, moving students into the ing out numbers, what it would cost to build the to recruit from across the country, to become Carlyle, which the University had recently dorms, how much dorm fees we could get, and a nationally known institution. The whole bought. It was opening in late September 1987. Larry says, “Go ahead and buy it. We’ll submit it admissions enrollment project was ramped up. We were also in the middle of construction to the board after we have a contract.” Things started to happen. of Third Avenue North, which we didn’t open I called the broker back, negotiated the best until the winter. price over the next day or two, and it was ours LEONARD STERN: Remember, NYU was a school That was why Jay Oliva, John Brademas, and [Third North and Alumni Hall]. with a reputation for being a subway school. Ann Marcus brought me here—to build the pro- The Third Avenue North residence If you came from Paris, you didn’t go to NYU. gram so that we would become more of a national ANN MARCUS: They had to be in neighborhoods hall opened in So one of the things we decided very early institution, recruiting the best and the brightest close enough to the Square for the students, 1988. in the game is that we had to build dorms. from coast to coast, east to west, north to south. but also where the residence hall would be a Because with dorms we could get good students And the means to bring those students here community in and of itself. So there was a big and establish a university life. You have to was student housing—a means to the end of push for the Third Avenue buildings and also have a core of people living in and around the recruiting a national class. Throughout the late for the new law school residence hall. University to have a real university life. ’80s, early ’90s, the number of new freshmen increased, as did the caliber of the students. SALLY ARTHUR: We bought the Carlyle, we leased Adapted from “Here’s the Thing,” GPAs, SAT scores. Lafayette downtown, we leased Water Street Alec Baldwin podcast, WNYC DESPERATE ,QWHUYLHZZLWK¿OPGLUHFWRU&KULV&ROXPEXV downtown. We had a real estate office that FOR HOUSING ANN MARCUS: Housing was the most stressful was humming. CC: I started at Weinstein and then moved to piece of Student Affairs. They used to rent some That was the time of the Americans with Rubin. I think that’s where we met. BUILDING RESIDENCE HALLS YMCA or YWCA that had horrible, tiny rooms— Disabilities Act, which Dr. Brademas had AB: That’s right, I was in Rubin. and there was a lot of student discontent. But written. Jack Gentul, the head of the disability the decision was made that we should move office, would run around to make sure that the CC: I got to New York and I remember my full speed ahead on our recruitment and on doors were 33" wide. BOB KIVETZ: To become a residential institution BOB KIVETZ: It was always better to start from University established right from the beginning. 24 hours a day, seven days a week, you had to the ground up. Because then you could Enough housing so that even when they were have all the services we take for granted today. really put in the type of student services you seniors they wouldn’t be moving off campus. So dining became very popular. Student health wanted. Dining hall, study facilities, faculty service had to be open longer hours. Increased and residents’ apartments, staff apartments, ANN MARCUS: In the beginning, the residential hours meant more staff on duty throughout programming space, exercise rooms, TV students couldn’t have been more than 15 to 25 the evening and even the night. lounges, classrooms. percent. People within a certain radius were not You had to build a sense of community. A sense It was always easier to do that. And always eligible for housing unless they had some terrible of identity with the institution. Back then, there more exciting. health problem or psychological problem. was a very strong identity toward the schools: With a renovated building, you had to work One of my jobs was to oversee a committee I was a Tisch student, I was a Stern student. within the bones of that structure. There are that would review exceptions. One year we had What we really became was a fully residential things that you couldn’t always do or couldn’t about 18 cases of scoliosis. institution, with all the services and facilities convert. It was interesting. we provided in the residence halls. We were constantly looking for new property The first year I was here, we had a student lot- to meet the demand. BOB KIVETZ: Ann Marcus was very strategic and tery for students to select rooms. At that time, creative. In my first week with her, she and I the students thought that Third Avenue North, RICH STANLEY: Every year it got harder. It was a walked over to Third North, and she was pick- which is on Third Avenue and 10th Street, was lot easier in the ’70s and ’80s, when the Univer- ing the paint colors for the rooms. I thought, too far away from the Square. They protested. sity didn’t have a lot of money to do it. And a lot “You’re the vice president. I don’t remember Fortunately, we were able to work it out. harder as Greenwich Village became probably the my previous vice presidents at other institu- You laugh about it now, the idea that Third hottest area for real estate in the entire world. tions doing this.” North is so far away. It’s just a few blocks. When you walk around the Village, you don’t But she took it very seriously. She wanted to necessarily see any logic as to exactly where the pick out the paint colors so that the environ-

84 ANN MARCUS: The buildings have to be large University is located. That’s because there isn’t ment was very positive for students. A 85 enough to make the costs work. But it was any logic. important to work with the neighbors, so A lot of the acquisitions were really serendip- ANN MARCUS: As we got more and more hous- other university in the country had residence that you weren’t building large buildings itous as to what was on the market—and what ing, we were able to admit everyone. By the halls for 150 years. We had residence halls that that cast a shadow over the park or into the was on the market at a price that was reason- end of the ’80s, we were trying to house every HOME were only 10, 15 years old. What are they for? historic neighborhoods. able to afford. freshman who wanted housing. What makes them residence halls and not just I still see today the elected officials whom The one or two buildings that are on the east The trustees were very nervous. That’s why IN THE CITY: hotels? What creates an environment that says, I dealt with those 20-odd years ago—all of the side of Broadway: I’m not sure we ever would many of our buildings are built apartment STUDENT LIFE “When I’m finished working and studying and wonderful disagreements and the hand-to- have said we wanted the University there. But style, so that if the day came when we couldn’t playing, I’m home”? hand community conflict that happened. These they were good buildings and they became fill our residence halls, we could convert the What I remembered vividly from the Heights issues will continue in every neighborhood at available, so we took advantage of them. housing to apartments. JAY OLIVA: If you come to New York and you experience was that people who belonged to every university in town-gown relationships. want to go to a rock concert, you go to Madison organizations formed that home. It could be the BOB KIVETZ: Each building had its own security, LEONARD STERN: Many of the other universities Square Garden. And if you want to go to the glee club, which was big time at the Heights, a RICH STANLEY: Jay was going to turn the campus 24/7. Again, in the late ’80s before the crime in the area had dorm rooms from pre-World opera, don’t wait for an opera to come to you. binding force. People belonged—to an athletic into a place that has that sort of daily and hour- rate in New York City was slowly decreasing, War II, pre-World War I. No private bathrooms, You go uptown and go to the opera. And if you team, to the swimming team, to the lacrosse club. ly interaction among the students and among John Brademas cleaned up the park. no sitting areas. So not only did we have dorm want to go out at night, you go up to Chelsea So you have to spend an enormous amount the faculty, which is really how you build an The park was a pretty rough place. A lot of rooms, we had great dorm rooms. and go to a club. of time at a huge organization making little intellectual community. drug dealers. A lot of people walking around There was so much exciting ferment. It was Since all the forces keep pulling you away organizations, as many as you can. People Which meant assembling the land in order who you wouldn’t want in any of your build- like everything was possible. from the institution, there also has to be a always thought it was a silly announcement to build the residence halls that are now spread ings. We had to guarantee to parents, “If my son home. You have to work 10 times as hard in an that every year Oliva says, “Instead of 125 clubs out all around the University. The renovations or daughter wants to come here, I want to make By 1989, NYU was providing housing for urban institution to create that home as you last year, we now have 200 clubs. And instead of some of the existing buildings into residence sure there’s safe, secure housing.” 4,500 undergraduates, which would grow do in a rural university, where that’s the only of 200 clubs, we now have 300 clubs.” halls was something we worked on year after Just as important, we guaranteed housing— to over 12,000 in the new millennium. home there is. To me, they weren’t silly. They were year after year. and still do—for four years to every entering fresh- The notion of having residence halls, for announcements of the growing collective It was not a strategy you could implement man. That was a fairly critical premise that the example, left us with this big problem. Every of possible homes. overnight. DUNCAN RICE: One other thing that I didn’t understand when I came, and that I have since come to see as an enormous virtue, is the Heights tradition, which I suppose Jay Oliva RAZ ZLE ANN MARCUS: David Finney came in as director of represented more than anyone. You took bright admissions in 1985. He really knew how to craft a students, put them all together, tried to keep “NOTHIN’ national strategy, what risks to take, how to have the unit small, and remained absolutely de- a diverse class, where to put our resources. He voted to the notion that while universities are had the skills and the analytical vision to design a about beautiful ideas and intellectual excite- MUCH DAZ ZLE plan that would include financial aid. ment, they lose their purpose unless someone The goal was to create some razzle-dazzle. is getting that excitement across to the young people who are there. ENERGIZING BOB KIVETZ: Dave was always going out looking Jay’s enormous strength was that he took GOIN’ for these students. He sent his recruiters every- that tradition and made it incarnate down STUDENT where. Then, usually around May of every year, at the Square. In other circles, this would be RECRUITMENT they’d call me up and say, “We have a problem. called reverse takeover. But if you’re moving ON” We just accepted more students. You better go toward being a research university, the horrible out and find housing for September.” danger is that you forget about the students in They made my life very interesting during the process. GREG GREG ALBANIS: We used to do these college fairs. the summer time. Because of the Heights, NYU didn’t. ALBANIS And they used to place us next to these indepen- Director and then STUDENT ANN MARCUS: Senior Director of dent schools like New York Institute of blah-blah- The other helpful factor in our ANN MARCUS: Over the years, I saw the image COUNSELING University Events blah, New York State Institute of blah-blah-blah. admissions history is that the Tisch School of

of Rubin dorm change. Some years students since 1996; NYU was in the middle. In the early ’80s, I remem- the Arts did an enormous amount of good for THE RENAISSANCE OF NEW YORK held positions in 86 talked about it as the gay dorm. Other years undergraduate ber people used to come up to my table to ask me the University’s visibility among high school 87 they talked about it as the black dorm. Other admissions from if NYU had hair styling and cosmetology. students and the public. We learned over time years it was the arts dorm. It was a microcosm SALLY ARTHUR: There was one full-time counselor 1983–96; MPA, that Tisch is really our best marketing tool, BILLIE TISCH: It all goes together. When the city Wagner, 1980; ANN MARCUS: of everything going on at NYU. when I arrived in 1984. When I went to ask him BA, Washington I also oversaw the registrar—but because kids who were creative and interested does well, NYU does well. The fact that the city In the beginning of the year when the smok- what were the issues, he went over to his mantel— Square College, I’m not sure we got it as modern as we thought in the arts all over the country knew about us. has been safe is very important. The ’60s and ing regulations went in, all these girls right out he had a fireplace in his office—and he picked up 1978 we would. Other universities and organizations I remember the first viewbook we did. It was ’70s in New York were really tough times. As the of high school would be sitting on the pave- these little cards and went through them. had some big computer, a mainframe. We had the middle of the summer, and we were trying city’s fortunes improved, NYU’s were improving ment outside the building smoking. “Nothin’ much goin’ on. No one’s goin’ to keypunch machines. There was only one little to show some wholesome-looking students on alongside it. They would do that for a week or two. counseling.” There were 12 students he had man in Florida who knew how to repair them. the covers—people with blond hair and freckles You’d see them wearing pastel colors, and by made notes on. If they broke, we’d have to fly him in. He was because we thought: Nebraska, Iowa, we have to LARRY SILVERSTEIN: In conjunction with every- September 15 they’d all be wearing black. But as this campus grew and people were probably 87 years old. show that there are people like you here. thing we were doing at the University, there coming from all over the United States, we The registrars were still ironing records be- I couldn’t find any students like that, and so was also a vast improvement in Greenwich couldn’t get on the phone if we wanted—and cause of the leaks in the building. We had done we hired models. Village. Suddenly, instead of a location that we didn’t—to call their parents. Serious issues everything manually, big lines around the block. They were beautiful viewbooks. I look back was decried as very negative, it became a place of alcohol use, drug use: The commuters went on it with some irony because what we learned everybody wanted to be. home at night, and Mom and Dad had to deal RICHARD BING: It was very paper driven. Paper a couple of years later is that what people want- with it. But if it happened on campus, we were and paper and more paper. We had clients, ed was not blond, freckled, wholesome. They ANN MARCUS: We found that parents weren’t as certainly responsible for it. By the late ’80s, who happen to be students. But there was zero really wanted to be punks in the East Village. concerned about the city as we thought they there were five or six counselors. customer service. By the end of the ’80s, into the early ’90s, would be. The idea of urban life in this country We battled a whole lot of things. We had cult In the same building, there were the bursar urban had become very hot. changed very rapidly in the ’80s—and it wasn’t workshops and taught students how to prevent folks, the registrar people, and the financial aid just New York. It was Boston, it was Washing- getting sucked in by spiritual leaders who were people. I brought them all into a room, people ton, DC, it was Philadelphia, it was USC in Los leading them down the path of being estranged who had been there 10, 15 years. Angeles. All urban, highly selective universities from their families. It was a difficult time, and It turned out they didn’t know each other, started doing a lot better. I think we did a pretty good job. even though they worked two minutes away. We just hit a cultural moment. LARRY SILVERSTEIN: People began to wonder, much to contribute—yes, dollars, but, beyond How is this University raising all this money? that, wisdom and judgment. “IF YOU How did it get successful all of a sudden? Larry Tisch dedicated himself in a very A BOOM IN BENEFACTORS significant way. He would have these develop- FOR N.Y.U. WEREN’T ment meetings. It didn’t take long to realize Laurence A. Tisch, Leonard N. Stern and Lewis that this development group came to these Rudin never had much desire to see their alma meetings religiously. They were usually eight mater again after they graduated from New York University in the 40’s and 50’s. They certainly AT THE o’clock breakfasts at the Regency Hotel. Larry never expected to come back to campus the way ran the meeting bup-bup-bup, and by nine you they have, as benefactors and members of the were finished, gone, out. Very precise. board of trustees. Until 1970, N.Y.U. was a commuter college for MEETING, Everybody came. Good weather, bad weather, New Yorkers whose parents wanted them to stay other obligations—you didn’t miss a meeting. at home while they received a practical education, People speculated: This group is functioning usually in business. THEN I’M “I was 15 when I went to college,” said Mr. incredibly well. What’s the secret? Tisch (class of ’42), the 63-year-old chairman of the Loews Corporation and acting chief executive MARIE SCHWARTZ: I learned what was going on of CBS Inc. “My parents thought I was too young to go away.” TALKING behind the scenes. For 59-year-old Mr. Rudin (class of ’49), pres- ident of the Rudin Management Company, one LARRY SILVERSTEIN: I remember sitting with of New York’s biggest real estate operations, the story was much the same. “My brother was ABOUT Larry and saying, “How’d you get to know all already in the Army, and I didn’t want to leave my this stuff?” He said, “Well, when you deal in parents at home alone.” business, it’s important to know as much as Mr. Stern’s father had other reasons. “He thought we shouldn’t waste money on dormitory 88 YOU” you can about the person you’re across the costs when we had perfectly good beds at home,” 89 table from. The more you know, the better your said the 48-year-old real estate investor and chair- position is, and the more successful you can be man of the Hartz Group, which includes the Hartz Mountain pet food business. in those negotiations.” Now these local boys have made good. THE DEDICATION Number two, we were successful as hell, really successful in getting people, identifying —NOVEMBER 23, 1986: ALBERT SCARDINO, THE NEW YORK TIMES OF THE TRUSTEES them, going out and getting them. Number three, if you weren’t at the meeting, NAOMI LEVINE: In those years, women had not yet then I’m talking about you. Therefore, you assumed the role they do today in philanthropy. better make sure you’re at the meeting. We had a few—Phyllis Wagner, Marie Schwartz. Naomi Levine was always part of all of this, a Today, if women are not included in your very effective part. The strategizing of Naomi, campaign, you’re not going to make it. But in the constant determination to seek the new the days when I was just beginning, women and the untouched, not just the low-lying fruit were not yet at the forefront. So we were deal- but the fruit you had to reach for: Naomi was ing mostly with men. extraordinary in her ability. It became a mission, almost like a family. TOM FRUSCIANO: You had a group of people who We were so intensely involved with each other really contributed financially because they and in the task of building this University and were part of that school of opportunity—people making it better. who came to NYU in the ’40s, got an education at a school like the School of Commerce, and BILLIE TISCH: Larry had a very good sense of peo- ultimately gave major donations to this institu- ple. As the University became more successful, tion because NYU gave them the opportunity to people wanted to be on board. He recruited succeed. They became very, very wealthy here in Trustees at work. people who had special talents and who had the city and they felt they had to give back. ASCENT OF THE SCHOOLS 4)?*=;16-;; )6,8=*41+;-:>1+-

When I came back from the interviews NYU SCHOOL OF LAW with clerks, I’d report on each person we saw: “This person looks like a very good prospect.” “I’m not sure he’s interested in New York.” “This one I don’t think is up to the standard.” With John I remember saying, “He is a NORMAN DORSEN: When I came here to teach unique character.” in 1961, the school was a third-rate law school. I always say, upper third-rate. JOHN SEXTON: This was not a time when coming In 1975, Redlich brought new energy as dean to New York was the thing to do. Of the 32 men by pushing affirmative action, diversity within and women who were clerking at the Supreme the faculty, and championing, more than Court of the United States the year I clerked anybody, legal clinics. One of the big events in there, none of the other 31 came to New York. 90 Norman’s deanship was when Tony Amsterdam The city was almost at its nadir. But when I 91 moved from Stanford to NYU in 1980. Redlich walked into the courtyard of Vanderbilt Hall, made him the head of the clinics. it just felt very, very right. Most of the students were commuters, but John Brademas arrived here officially in a fair number of them lived at Hayden Hall, September 1981. And Warren Berger and David which was entirely a law school dorm. Others Bazelon—who agreed on nothing—both agreed rented apartments in the area. that NYU would be affected positively by its new Norman was very eager to build the Mercer leader. And, of course, it was. Street dorm, as well as a new library configura- tion. By the end of the ’70s and the beginning NORMAN DORSEN: Until 1984, John didn’t have of the ’80s, the school had certainly moved into tenure. He was very new. But he was making a the second rank. mark. Among a certain number of people he was thought of as the kind of person we’d want as JOHN SEXTON: I was very fortunate when I was dean. And not just the kind of person: the person. graduating from law school. I was going down After a while it was increasingly obvious that to Washington to work for judges for a couple there were problems in the school. John was of years. Harvard had expressed an interest in very much in support of a change. He was very having me on its faculty, which got the major friendly with Norman Redlich—and not too law schools in the United States interested. many of the people who felt that way were. So suddenly this 37-year-old former college John went to Norman and talked to him professor was in a seller’s market. about the problems. I regard that as a very courageous, very principled thing to do. John Sexton, then NORMAN DORSEN: John came to the law school There were meetings in ’86, and in 1987, dean of the law school, in his in 1981. I was the first person to interview him Norman announced his intention to step down office. when he was a law clerk in Washington, DC. at the end of the following year. 1988 JOHN SEXTON ELECTRIFYING The Colloquium in Legal, Political, and THE LAW SCHOOL Social Philosophy was founded by Ronald Dworkin and Thomas Nagel in 1987.

RONALD DWORKIN: It started out as something very experimental and is now solidified. The centerpiece is a three-hour colloquium, with MARTY LIPTON: There’s no way any organization, NORMAN DORSEN: A few weeks after he was the presentation of a paper by either a member let alone a law school, becomes nationally named dean, John asked me if I would work of our faculty or other faculty in New York, or, prominent and a very successful place without closely with him at the law school. I saw him more usually, a philosopher from elsewhere in leadership. And we had great leadership. many times every day, and we had dinner almost the country or the world. Students and other once a week to discuss whatever was going on. members have had the speaker’s paper a week JOHN O’CONNOR: The search that led to John It was obvious that he was a phenomenal in advance. Tom Nagel [professor of philosophy] Sexton becoming the dean of the law school after optimist and enthusiast. Still, I couldn’t have and I alternate summarization of the paper. Norman Redlich was very precise. It was John believed at the outset how much would happen. Then we have a very intense discussion. Brademas saying, “After Norman Redlich’s leader- The day before, I meet with the students ship of the law school, the next dean is probably JOHN SEXTON: I come from the Faculty of Arts alone for a two-hour discussion—one hour, a going to be the most important dean selection and Science. I was the chairman of a religion discussion of last week’s colloquium, and the we’ll make. So we’ve got to do it right.” department at a small Catholic college before other, a discussion of the colloquium to take 92 I went to law school, and I have a PhD in reli- place the next day. The students are introduced 93 N.Y.U. Law School Picks New Dean gion. My soul resides in Arts and Science, even to state-of-the-art philosophy in the areas that though I went to a professional school myself are of most concern to a thoughtful lawyer. A law professor who coached a girls’ high school GHEDWLQJWHDPWR¿YHQDWLRQDOFKDPSLRQVKLSVZDV and then came here as a professor of law. It was experimental not only in the format, chairman of a college religion department and For me, there was always an intellectual but also in the way in which it brought then served as law clerk to the Chief Justice of the connection with the rest of the University, and professional philosophers into the law school. United States was appointed yesterday as the new dean of the New York University Law School…. with Arts and Science in particular. But that That has proved to be contagious. was not the spirit at the law school in 1988. —JULY 14, 1988: DENNIS HEVESI, THE NEW YORK TIMES Hard as it is to believe, there were some NORMAN DORSEN: When John became dean, we JOHN SEXTON: I was not the standard or safe on the law school faculty who saw the 1975 were at the bottom of the top schools. Getting choice. appointment of Ronald Dworkin as a tough from the bottom of the top schools into the case. The idea was that NYU Law School had very, very top is extremely difficult for all kinds MARTY LIPTON: By the time John took over as positioned itself as a trainer of lawyers for the of reasons. That’s what John presided over. dean in 1988, the law school had established public service bar and the elite New York and a true national reputation. Its graduates national bar. In 1988, there was almost an JOHN SEXTON: Very few people outside of NYU were sought by the most distinguished firms allergy among some people at the law school would have placed us in the top 10 among throughout the country. And then John added to the rest of the University. American law schools in 1988, but we could at a whole new dimension and made it, if not the It was a community unto itself, so there John Sexton. RONALD least say it without being committed for insan- leading law school, one of the three leading law wasn’t a lot of appreciation at the law school DWORKIN ity. As I used to put it, we were one of the 20 Professor of Law schools in the country. that there was a university. The law school and Philosophy at schools that could claim to be in the top 10. was focused on the fact that it had a future, the School of Law which it was pursuing quite on its own. There since 1975 were other pockets of excellence within the University, but the law school was clearly in the vanguard. “WE NEEDED EVERYTHING”

NORMAN DORSEN: John provided the ambition, DEBRA LAMORTE: When John came on board, TONY WELTERS: I attended public schools here in TONY the vision. He organized the alumni, brought he went about figuring out, “Who are the best New York City. Manhattanville College wasn’t WELTERS people into the school who had never had legal minds in the country? How can I get them eye-opening for me, but I was a man on a mis- Member of the anything to do with it. He asked Debra LaMorte to NYU? If I can get those minds to NYU Law sion. I blew through it in two and a half years. NYU Board of Trustees since to do research that had never been done and School, the best students are going to follow.” By the time I was 19, I was in law school at NYU. 2002; Chair of the found people who were worth $50, $100 million That’s exactly the formula he used. I’d always had an interest in being a lawyer. More Law School Board who had never been asked for a dime. important, I was the first in my family to attend of Trustees since 2008 (member At one of our meetings, he said, “I called up NORMAN DORSEN: The first two faculty he hired college, and obviously the first to attend law since 1997); this fellow and said, ‘I’d like to talk to you about were Marcel Kahan and Chris Eisgruber. These school. For me, both college and law school were member of the the law school.’ And he said, ‘I’ve been waiting were stars. a means to an end—an opportunity to help NYU Langone Medical Center for this call for 20 years.’” provide for my family. Neither of my parents ever Board of Trustees 94 DEBRA LAMORTE: One of the first events I worked graduated from high school. But they had an since 2004; JD, 95 DEBRA LAMORTE: In July 1990, I started at the on, after I became assistant dean for develop- appreciation for education and an understand- Law, 1977 law school, when John Sexton was a relatively ment, was “100 Years of Women at NYU Law.” ing that you don’t fool around, as they would new dean. He hired me in the development NYU admitted its first three women in about describe it. You get the job done and move on. office to do back office operations. 1892. Columbia and Harvard didn’t admit I knew that NYU was the best law school I I have a background in law. I did trial work women until the 1950s. We were way ahead would ever get into. They would probably reject and also ran a small public company. And I was of that curve—and very proud of it. me if I applied today. DEBRA a single parent at the time, with a two-year-old But we needed everything. We needed finan- I couldn’t say while I was there that I knew LAMORTE Senior Vice son. I thought, “If I go into the nonprofit world, cial aid. We needed capital improvements. We how important it would become in my life. It President for I’ll get paid less, but I’d have more time to be needed to build the endowment. We needed was many, many years later, when I realized University with my son.” to recruit the incredible faculty that John was how much of my success was tied to my start Development and Alumni Relations Was I ever wrong. Because this job has bringing in. And we needed retention endow- here, that I really became vested. since 2001; been 24/7. ment and monies. One day I’m in my office. My assistant comes Associate Dean of We put together a very robust alumni rela- in and says, “The dean of your law school would External Affairs at the School of Law JOHN SEXTON: It’s fair to say that I, and the tions program. As the reputation of the law like to meet you. He’ll be in Washington and from 1992–2001; group of faculty I represented, saw that the school got better, and everybody could see that wants to have a cup of coffee.” Director and then only way for the law school to become truly it was this rocket ship heading off on an incred- I hadn’t had any engagement with the school. Senior Director of Development and great was to begin to position itself as part of a ible trajectory, they wanted to be a part of it. I graduated in ’77. And this call probably came Alumni Relations research university. The more we could connect Because the alumni were incredible. When I was along in ’93, ’94. And so I met John Sexton, then at the School into the rest of the University, the more we at the law school, all the major studios in Hollywood dean of the law school, and we have a cup of of Law from 1990–92 ourselves could become better and better. were run by NYU alums, across the board. The NFL coffee. During the cup of coffee, he says, “Look, And the better our colleagues were in the was run by an NYU graduate. If I look at the number we have this annual giving program, and I economics department, or philosophy, or histo- of senators and judges, the corporate moguls, would like you to sign up for that.” ry, the better we as academic lawyers could be. chances are they were NYU law graduates. I tell people every day, “That’s the most expensive cup of coffee I’ve ever had in life.” CREATING A MODEL Norman Dorsen, In September 2001, the Global Law FOR LEGAL EDUCATION founding director School Program was renamed the Hauser of the Global Law Global Law School Program. School Program. THE GLOBAL BURT NEUBORNE: One of the greatest strengths The second half of the program is the iden- 4)?;+07748:7/:)5 of the school is that it has refused to go tification and the bringing to NYU of talented down any ideological path. This is a school students from these countries who actually par- in which all ideas are welcome. All points of ticipate as part of the student body. When they view are welcome. go home, they will keep their ties to NYU and to 1993 We have people who approach law from the the United States. We learn as much from them economic perspective. We have people who ap- as they learn from us. proach law from the psychological perspective. NORMAN DORSEN: After we appointed very, very other countries and a special scholarship We have people who approach it from the left, JOHN SEXTON: In the classroom and in less good people, John spoke to me one day about to attract top-quality foreign students. from the right, from the center. We have prag- formal settings around campus, faculty and something he was calling a global law school. Of course, many, if not most, law schools matists. We have realists. We have formalists. students gain deeper understanding not only “What do you think of it?” he asked. invite foreign visiting teachers and enroll They fight with each other, but with joy—the of international legal order, but they gain new 96 I remember saying to him, “If I knew what it foreign students. The difference would be joy of learning. Intellectual excitement in the perspectives on American law as well. And, just 97 was, I would tell you what I think.” in the scale and breadth of the effort. school translates itself to the students, which as important, they develop transnational ties that translates itself to the classroom. sustain them for their entire professional careers. JOHN SEXTON: It was as a law school dean that JOHN SEXTON: It was not simply a matter of NYU classrooms crackle. They crackle with I began to think seriously about the role of adding courses for students who intend to spe- excitement, with intellectual adventure. It’s a VANESSA LESNIE: I would never have imagined higher education in the emerging globalized cialize in international law. We were creating an joy to teach here. that a law school could be quite so diverse. I civil society. We wanted to begin the complex integrated global approach to legal education—a The Global Law School Program is the vehicle have been taught by or spoken to academics process of revising legal education to meet the place where the finest faculty and graduate law by which the school is attempting to be in the and judges from France, Italy, Germany, Aus- challenges of global law. students from around the world would come forefront of globalization. As barriers break tralia, New Zealand, Israel, and, of course, the to join extraordinary American faculty and stu- BURT down, we’re moving into a single legal universe United States. I have taken courses dealing with NORMAN DORSEN: The origins of the Global Law dents to spend time together in the classroom, NEUBORNE where, especially, world trade and human subject matters ranging from legal philosophy Professor of Law School Program [GLSP] go back to the summer around the campus, and in New York City, the since 1972 rights are governed by an increasingly transna- to international contract law to human rights and early fall of 1993, when John held con- legal and economic center of the world. tional set of norms. We thought it was import- law to American constitutional law. My col- versations with several people, including Rita ant for our students to be in the forefront of leagues come from all corners of the globe. Hauser, an alumna of the school and former NORMAN DORSEN: The program was conceived VANESSA that movement. LESNIE US representative to the United Nations Com- in 1993, planned and publicly announced in We have created a program at the school MARTY LIPTON: Dean Sexton initiated a pro- LLM, Law, 1998; mission on Human Rights, about the possible 1994, and implemented in the fall of 1995. Hauser Global that’s designed to break free from geography. We gram to make the law school one of the most impact on legal education of the remarkable John asked if I would assume direction of the Scholar bring to the school the very best law professors highly regarded in the nation. The law school changes in communications, transportation, program, and I decided to go for it. from around the world, the best people we can embarked on a major fundraising campaign, financial markets, and human rights—what is Faculty exchange is at the heart of the GLSP. find. They teach in the regular programs. They expanded faculty recruitment, expanded now known as “globalization.” We spend much effort in identifying and interact with the faculty, which is enormously facilities, and improved alumni relations and This new idea for the law school was the vetting the best non-US faculty throughout important because it keeps us on our toes. student financial aid. addition of a major new international element, the world. Their impact on the law school is We learn what’s going on in other countries. The success of the law school was a major fac- through more appointments of faculty from enormous, especially on the curriculum, where The students interact with them as well. tor in launching the success of the University as we’ve added dozens of new courses. a whole, then and today. October 6, 1988 LARRY TISCH: I brought George Heyman on the From press conference to announce the naming of the Leonard S. Stern School of Business board. He had his MBA from NYU—and he was a tremendous help. All fundraising came under John Brademas: It is with immense pride and a George. He had a great relationship with Naomi deep sense of gratitude that I tell you that Leon- ard N. Stern is giving to New York University the Levine, so they worked very closely together. remarkable sum of $30 million to bring together NYU’s highly rated graduate and undergraduate LEONARD STERN: I said, “Where’d you get this THE business schools and rename them the Leonard N. Stern School of Business. idea from?” This truly extraordinary naming gift is the larg- I was very young. I had been successful. But URBAN est ever received in the 137-year history of New I was using my capital to build my business. York University. I wasn’t so successful that $20 million wasn’t REALITY LEONARD STERN: I didn’t want to do it. They put a very important. price on it—the board, with the gifts committee— So he says, “No, this is once in a lifetime.” of $20 million. And they couldn’t find anybody to I said I would think about it. come forward and name it for $20 million. But he said, “I’ve got to tell you, if you do it, In New York City’s near-bankrupt 1970s It was a different time. In real dollars, $20 it has to cost you $25 million. Because every- and during the crack epidemic of the million was more money than the $100 and $200 body knows we put a $20 million price tag on, 1980s, the attractiveness of NYU was million that business schools are going for today. and you don’t want anybody criticizing you tied to the fate of the city. By 1990, these As part of trying to raise money, I went and saw that because you’re so active on the board, crises had somewhat abated, but the a couple of people. I remember going to Milton you grabbed this opportunity for yourself. So I number of homicides that year was over Petrie. The $20 million was a real turn-off. think you should do 25.” 2,000, an all-time high. In a big city, the One day, George Heyman, who was part of I said to my wife, Allison, “I’m too young to feeling of safety is often local. Greenwich this group of really committed trustees, just a do something like this. I’d be embarrassed.” Village was less affected by violent crime 98 wonderful human being, came to see me at my Right or wrong, I saw myself still as a very than most parts of the city. Even the East 99 l to r: Jay Oliva, apartment. He says, “Leonard, you should do it.” young man, by a generation. I was 36. Village was becoming increasingly safe. Allison Stern, John Brademas, and Allison says, “Can you afford it?” Parents may have worried, but students Leonard Stern. I said, “Yeah, I can afford it.” wanted to come to NYU. Mayor David She says, “Then do it.” Dinkins started community policing, “Why?” which began to have an impact. Crime de- “They need it.” And she says, “You’re in busi- clined rapidly. As always, NYU responded ness. You’re a graduate. It’d be very appropriate.” to the city’s fortunes, emphasizing public My wife talked me into doing it. service within its schools and beyond. I had always planned a major gift to the University at a later time in my life—like a great I JUST exit, to cap a career. Then I realized that it would be more fun to see this building now. LAUGHED I called George back and I said, “George, you got 25.” AND SAID And he says, “I’m thrilled. Can I come see you?” He came to see me again and he says, “I thought you’d say yes. So I started to look. Nobody has ever given a naming gift of $30 mil- lion for a business school. This gift will affect what we can get other naming gifts for. I think OKAY you should make it $30 million.” I just laughed and said, “Okay.” And I never THE LEONARD N. STERN SCHOOL OF BUSINESS 1988 looked back. “WE’RE NAMED FOR FARHAD KAZEMI: After NYU’s financial crisis, It was an odd recruitment because I wasn’t protest and energy. New York and downtown many people were confused about whether an academic. I had come straight from college New York: It’s all I ever wanted. A MAYOR OF NYU was a public or private institution. Hester, to NYU Law School, which is not a path I recom- Wagner was very much a school grounded Sawhill, and then others began emphasizing mend these days. It’s much more interesting to in New York City. It had and still has both part- that we are a private institution and proud take a couple of years after college and explore time and full-time students and always has ” of our name, which is New York, but we’re in life and work before you go to graduate school. valued the mix between the two, and between NEW YORK CITY public service. But I had grown up in New York, and I knew I theory and practice. But the students, whether “A private university in the public service” was coming back. part time or full time, were pretty much local. 1989 became a motto. The notion that we are part NYU was an obvious choice for me. Even then They came from the five boroughs, from of a city became very, very important. Many it was so strong in public interest law. My class Connecticut, from New York, from New Jersey. of our programs reflect it: urban studies, the was the first class in which there were a signifi- Wagner School. cant number of women, I think 30 percent. The BOB BERNE: We got more full-time, more nation- THE ROBERT F. WAGNER GRADUATE People used to say, “We don’t want people women who came in my year told us that until al, and more international students. They really SCHOOL OF PUBLIC SERVICE to think of us as Columbia—which just happens recently the professors had called on women changed the complexion of the school. We to be in New York City. We are in New York only on Women’s Day—a day during the year in began to offer telecourses when the Berlin Wall City and part and parcel of New York City. And which women got called on in class. came down, when the Russian Federation broke proud of it.” Those were fabulous years, full of turmoil up. We were one of the first to participate with and hope. And NYU Law School was an exciting federal programs in providing public adminis- BOB BERNE: ELLEN SCHALL: ELLEN SCHALL: A number of people who wanted to Howard Newman [then dean] ELLEN I was recruited as a Wagner place to be, with lots of people who cared about tration programs for Eastern Europeans. name the school for Mayor Wagner approached renamed the school. It used to be the NYU Grad- SCHALL faculty member in 1992 by Bob Berne and using the law to improve the world and improve John Brademas. If you look at competitor schools, uate School of Public Administration. In 1989, Dean of the Howard Newman. the lot of poor people. The Village was the cen- ELLEN SCHALL: I was brought in to help rethink Wagner School many of them have proper names: the Maxwell with the endowment he and Bob raised and the since 2002; ter of so much thought and action and political what Wagner could be. One of the things I did School, the LBJ School, the Kennedy School. permission of the Wagner family, he made two Professor of was look at the end event for Wagner students. 100 We thought the Wagner name celebrated important choices. He named it for them and Health Policy and If you think about med school, students do in- 101 Management at the mayor. And because of three generations called it a school of public service. Wagner since ternships and residencies. At ed schools, they do of public servants—the senator, the mayor, and Schools like ours are called public policy 1992; JD, Law, student teaching. Law schools, they do clinics. Bobby Wagner, the city official—Wagner was a schools, citizenship schools, but he wanted 1972 At Wagner, they were doing theses or ex- good name. a really broad mandate. We think of public ams. That didn’t seem at all appropriate to a It allowed us to change from public adminis- service as work of public importance in professional school, because when you get out tration to public service, which at that time was a whatever sector it happens. into the work world, no one really asks you for little offbeat, kind of new, but since then has cap- a 30-page paper. Nor do they give you exams. tured a lot of what the public sector is all about. BOB BERNE: But we were in multiple spaces. So Howard Newman asked me to look around People felt it marked a turning point for The two main spaces were in Tisch Hall— and to invent what the end event should be for the school. basically, renting half a floor from the Stern Wagner students. undergraduate program—and then a series of We created something we call the capstone— ROBERT WAGNER: My hope is that the naming spaces in 4 and 5 Washington Square North, ROBERT teams of students working under faculty super- of this school will signal a renewed sense that in the brownstones. WAGNER vision for an external client or on a research Mayor of New government can make a difference and that They were charming spaces, very much New York City from assignment on a problem that is important but those who enter it represent our future. What York City spaces, a lot of small rooms, a lot of 1954–65 l to r: Larry Tisch; not urgent, because they take the year to do it. Robert F. Wagner, happens in government, what happens in the stairs. Edward Hopper painted in them, former It’s exactly the kind of experience that launch- Jr.; Marshall nonprofit world will determine the quality of mayors lived in them, Henry James wrote in Manley, a 1965 es students back into the world of work. our society. I’d like to believe that dedication to them. But they weren’t all that functional. graduate of NYU It’s become a defining part of the Wagner School of Law; public service is what my life has been about, Then, as we grew, we got space on Broadway. School. And virtually every student graduates former NYU life what my father’s life was about, and what the That prevented a certain amount of integration trustee Phyllis having done a capstone. family’s dedication is about. in the school. We probably had five or six spaces Cerf Wagner; and When I started, all the projects were New John Brademas at by the time the school came together in the York City projects. We now do dozens of proj- the naming of the Puck Building in 2004. school. ects a year for external clients, and in 2010 a third of them were global. Student teams were in Kenya, in Jordan—all over the world. “-;;-6<1)4 FOR A FULL LIFE” MICHAEL MICHAEL ZISSER: University Settlement has been the Village is that you’re not on a campus going ZISSER in the community for almost 125 years. The to yet another fraternity party. We were part of CEO of University COMMUNITY SERVICE Settlement, an original model for settlements, which began in a larger community—and that was important. organization London in 1884, was based on what was then a It was an opportunity for us as students to grow providing social radical notion—that college graduates from Ox- up in a way that makes us more in touch with services to low- income families in ford and Cambridge should go into a communi- the world. Lower Manhattan ty and serve low-income people. It was an early To go off to college at 17 or 18 on some roll- JOHN BRADEMAS: In South Bend, Indiana, I version of the Peace Corps, but within the city. ing campus and study a textbook about society, was a supporter of United Way, and so I estab- Our major volunteer connection with NYU or finance, or marketing is one thing. But to lished an NYU analogue to make it possible for began when the C-Team was formed when Jay leave the classroom and go down to the subway employees of the University to contribute to the Oliva was the chancellor. It was an innovative and see a Russian musician playing the violin NYU Community Fund, in addition to contrib- concept, a remarkable display of the Universi- in the subway because now he lives here and uting to United Way. ty’s investment in the community. We were one he’s a concert musician but is struggling to get Because we’re so large, we have a responsibility. of the original sites—and we had many, many by—that provides a whole other education. Not only do we provide employment for thou- students who volunteered to work here. sands of people, but we are also responsive to MICHAEL ZISSER: We’ve had deans, adminis- the needs of organizations in the community. ELEANORE The President’s C-Team, formed in 1989 trators, and other staff who see their lives as KORMAN Vice Dean of by then-Chancellor L. Jay Oliva and Vice not just University-focused but the broader 102 NAOMI LEVINE: Every one of our schools was the School of President and Deputy Chancellor Debra definition of community. It’s where they shop, 103 given the responsibility of developing programs Social Work from James, placed volunteers in youth pro- where they do their charitable work, where 1996–98; Acting with New York City institutions. Dean of the School grams throughout New York City. Students they spend their weekends and their evenings. The School of Ed had all kinds of programs of Social Work served as tutors, teacher’s assistants, That’s a commitment that’s much larger than with the public schools. from 1994–96; and recreational leaders in preschools work related: It’s place related. held other admin- I developed a project with the dental school istrative positions and after-school programs. There was a time, not that many years ago, because I visited a nursing home and found at the School of where we felt that the only thing students they had a lot of doctors, but many of the Social Work from ELEANORE KORMAN: When Jay Oliva and Debra wanted to do was go make money or have fun. 1973–93; Asso- people suffered from facial pain. Nobody was ciate Professor of James set up the first C-Team, they were trying We’re finding a change in that pattern. Stu- treating their teeth. I got money for our dental Social Work from to help NYU students, faculty, and staff be more dents are reacquiring their interest in commu- school to fit out a van that went around to 1967–2002 aware of community needs. It was very infor- nity that some of us felt had disappeared from people in nursing homes. mal. If people were inclined in that direction, the previous generation. they would find something to do. It’s not necessarily political activism, but ERIC JAY OLIVA: Most institutions that were located SNYDER With the development of the C-Team and it’s social activism, and it’s reflected through in cities, and all of the institutions that were BA, College of the community-service focus, it became more volunteerism. So I don’t read the transience of located in New York, were trying to convince Arts and Science, of an expectation. their time here the way some people might. 1990; JD, Law, people that they weren’t there, that they were 1994 But how do you make that first step? The And I don’t believe they consider it transience. in the country. At NYU, we were choosing a University has made it very easy. I think they consider it essential for a full life. very different pitch: “Hey, you are in New York. You’re going to intersect with this town.” ERIC SNYDER: I was there the first year of the HILLARY CLINTON: Every time a student from NYU HILLARY Community service connects education CLINTON C-Team, when Deb [James] asked a few of us if reaches out to the community beyond the walls of and reality. Former First we were interested in working on it. Deb lived this great university, you are making a statement Lady, US Senator, in the Village. She was part of the community, that you are committed to being what is the most and Secretary of State; Honorary just like we were. important role for any person in a democracy: a Doctorate, 2009 One of the wonderful aspects of being part of committed and involved citizen. SALLY ARTHUR: John Brademas was so smart. JOHN BRADEMAS: If you’re a legislator, at least And everybody liked him. He had friends all this legislator, you feel excited at the prospect across the country, so if you needed a speaker, of developing a program that did not exist. Do- he could probably coax somebody in a minute ing that, you learned how to articulate a goal, to come have an honorary degree at Commence- a purpose, a mission. And then you go out and ment. And it would be somebody significant. generate support to make your objective reality. He was a serious scholar, which helped. That same attitude carried over into the pres- AN In 1985, the AIDS epidemic hit. Brademas idency of New York University, where I thought, called up the Center for Disease Control, he “Well, why don’t we do this? Why don’t we got Dr. Anthony Fauci up here, and we had a do that?” URBAN command performance for everybody to come You articulate your goal and then you say, in and learn about AIDS. “Now, to whom can I turn for help politically, both in a nonpartisan sense and in terms of ANN MARCUS: Brademas gave us exposure to a generating resources, to make this vision real?” FOCUS world that NYU had never had, the national scene and the international scene. He was an TOM BISHOP: He was able to get the University Hillary Clinton, interesting president because he liked the big to think on a completely different scale. John then First Lady, picture. He worked hard at development, did Brademas may have been Democratic whip, but SCHOOL OF and Congress- woman and NYU some work with alumni, some things with he did not limit his Washington acquaintances alumna Nydia faculty. He’d come to all my Parents Days and to Democrats. EDUCATION Velázquez, far Recruitment Days. If there’s one thing that John Brademas is left, visit with Steinhardt He also was quite happy to delegate—and not, it’s parochial. ANN MARCUS: We were in a big budget-cutting students. delegated a lot of the academic planning to 104 mode, so we had to give up buildings and Jay. But John was a very good spokesman for TOM BENDER: And he does know what quality 105 facilities. The faculty were pretty traumatized. the University. He got us entrée into circles of is. His only experiences with higher education They knew that people at the University were people and organizations that had not been were Harvard and Oxford. So he’s limited in thinking about abolishing the school. My first accessible to NYU. And I think did a lot for that regard—which was quite helpful to us. GABE CARRAS: Oliva appointed Ann Marcus as agenda was to work on that. NYU’s image as a national university. He was exceedingly ambitious for NYU. acting dean in 1989. When she came in, we The school was a mess. I don’t know how to Starting in the ’70s and ’80s, when we had carried forward an organizational struc- say that in a nice way. We had student teachers, began marketing ourselves, we were always SYLVIA BARUCH: He was introducing the place ture that involved many departments. I don’t but there was no record of where they were playing catch-up, that we would never be as to the world and the world to us. remember the exact number, but it was some- being placed. Only the faculty member teach- good as Columbia. thing like 26. ing the course knew where the students were. Brademas didn’t have any of that. He thought LARRY TISCH: John brought a patina to the job. Ann Marcus reorganized the school. She There was no rhyme or reason to anything. we were excellent. He had the kind of convic- He raised the standard of the University from worked closely with the deans of other schools, So I had this not very original idea that we tion people here did not have, including the the outside, and Jay was raising the standard as well as with the president, and made a big should have an urban focus. I talked about trustees, who had been part of that very diffi- inside. It was a very good team, and that’s why difference in our status within the University. that a lot for a couple of years. The first agenda cult past. we gave Jay the job as president, because he item was having a focus, trimming the budget, had done yeoman service under Brademas. SYLVIA BARUCH: Schools of education were in recruiting students. That took about three to ALLEN CLAXTON: John Brademas, in his very deep financial trouble nationwide. Ann Marcus four years before we got out of deficit. formal manner, wouldn’t be, “Jay, let’s go hang was given the task of turning ours around—and Teacher education had to be strong. It was out at a basketball game.” But even so he was she did. one of our weakest areas. And we worked a lot very approachable. Not someone you feared. I once said to Harvey Stedman, “How come on the curriculum. We put in more financial Very measured, very solid. Ann took on that job?” It seemed at the time aid. We did a lot to recruit minority students. King Juan Carlos I impossible. There were no schools of education We started this community college transfer pro- of Spain receives that were succeeding. gram to get more minority students but also to an honorary On December 11, 1990, the board Harvey said to me, “She loves that kind develop ties with city institutions, which still degree from of trustees chose Jay Oliva to succeed John Brademas. of challenge.” goes on today. I’m very proud of that one. John Brademas. 1991–2002

106 L. JAY 107 OLIVA

the Street-Smart Scholar INTERNATIONAL

AT THE JAY OLIVA: For my inauguration, I invited all JAY OLIVA: I didn’t invent the notion of inter- the rectors. We had 42—from Amsterdam and national houses. But because we’re in the city, St. Petersburg and New Delhi and Tokyo. I was those houses—Maison Française, Deutsches SQUARE trying to say, “I don’t really want to be in the Haus, Ireland House—become centers for the Ivy League. I want to be in the world league.” communities around them. It’s nice to think about an old football league When they are working right, any visitor to that was founded in the last two centuries as a New York who comes from the origins of those binding force. But much more interesting was houses—France, Ireland, Italy, Germany—comes the notion of the great cities of the world—that to that house to give a lecture or read a play. if you come here as a student, you get not just a If you’re in the Maison Française, it’s a little shot at New York but a way to prepare yourself touch of being in Paris. for the world that’s coming. It’s also the lead-in to the notion that maybe The global issue of the University always you want to extend the idea of New York to be seemed to me to be founded on this theory: in Paris, to go for a semester. Most people in the United States already think In so many ways, NYU has become an entrepôt of New York as the international city. Conse- between New York City and the international quently, what would you expect of the students community. who decide of their own volition to go into that —“OUR VISION FOR THE 21ST CENTURY,” environment? That they have a global sense. L. JAY OLIVA, PRESIDENT, 1995 We are the best gateway to a global experi- 108 ence. And if we are, shouldn’t we make that DUNCAN RICE: We moved on from thinking of 109 possible for students? the Madrid program and the Parisian program That’s when we sat down and said, “So where to having a Florentine program—although should they be able to go?” goodness knows it was an extraordinarily We watched the global program become difficult thing to put it into shape so that it the megaphone of the idea that draws people could be financially viable but at the same time to New York in the first place. educationally useful. While you couldn’t be much more inter- Our International Mission national than Brademas, it was Jay who was rooted in this idea that everything should be by C. Duncan Rice, University Vice Chancellor for the students. Therefore, if we were going to There was a time when it seemed a fairly simple have houses in Prague, they shouldn’t be only matter for American universities to be internation- for people like me or Dick Sennett to go around al. That was because being international, to those of us who thought about such matters at NYU and talking to the Czech intelligentsia. They should Trustee and elsewhere in higher education, did not mean any really be for on-the-ground NYU undergradu- alumnus Lewis fundamental change in the core purposes of the ates who were going to get something special Glucksman, Jay institution. One of the most exciting signs of our Oliva, Taoiseach times is that we have reached a point where that by coming here. (Prime Minister approach is no longer adequate, either for students That turned into a kind of compulsive vision of Ireland) Albert or scholars. of globalismus, which in the end will make it Reynolds, and The question, then, is what American universities, Loretta Brennan and what NYU in particular, should do about it. impossible for a student to come to NYU with- Glucksman at the out shaking out of any possibility of being an ribbon cutting for —1995 BROCHURE: “NEW YORK UNIVERSITY: American isolationist. And that can only be to Glucksman Ireland THE GLOBAL VISION” House. the advantage of everybody. Pietra, 57 acres, four or five villas, quite a mag- HA: One reason, of course, [is that] my like picking up a barbell. The rotunda leaked, nificent site even then. Arthur and Hortense mother was American, and among the universities so whenever it rained the water would come of which I had any familiarity, I had many friends La PIETRA bought it about six or seven years later. Togeth- from New York University. I admired immensely down the stairs like a waterfall all over the er, they built an art collection and restored their Institute of Fine Arts, which is, I suppose, Renaissance tapestries. the main historic villa, which was originally a foremost in the world now. THE VILLA Their interest in conservation and restoration is The history of La Pietra and the University country house of the Sassetti family, bankers to unique. So instead of becoming a dead museum, BOB BERNE: Four of us were working on it, spans decades and involved several NYU AND THE the Medicis. It was a 15th-century structure at this villa will be appreciated by people living, with Jay as leader. Debra James knew that the presidents, from the initiation under Jim its core. breathing, and enjoying the works of art. relationship with the City of Florence between Hester to cultivation by John Brademas to GARDEN Arthur died in the ’50s; Hortense in the ’60s. JB: It is our intention to devote our efforts to NYU and La Pietra, where La Pietra was a five- renovation and opening under Jay Oliva to So Harold lived there alone with his staff from maintaining the tradition that you have continued hundred-year-old institution, was going to be here at La Pietra. Among those traditions is that expanded use under John Sexton. Given the ’60s until he died in 1994. In that period, we should not be narrowly specializing. essential to our success in Florence. the scare of bankruptcy in the ’70s, Larry after a couple of false starts, he became com- She was able to draw on her savvy, her style, Tisch and the trustees were determined to mitted to NYU. HA: No narrow specialization. It should be her knowledge of how NYU connects with humanism above all, enlarging the consciousness be responsible stewards. Skeptical about of learning. People forget that science was also New York City, and her Italian heritage and what could potentially be a white elephant, Sir Harold Acton. JIM HESTER: Sir Harold wanted La Pietra to be born here. Leonardo Da Vinci may not have dis- forge a plan to connect NYU with the city of they insisted on an endowment with the used by students who would appreciate the art covered an airplane, but he drew early versions Florence. There were very important families of airplanes. And all the studies of Galileo and Acton gift so that no resources from the and the beauty of the garden and perpetuate his work. They were Florentines, which is very that were the key—families measured in Square would be needed to subsidize the the experience his parents had developed there. often forgotten. centuries, not in generations. They welcomed restoration and maintenance of La Pietra. He was a famous Oxford graduate and want- our students and opened their homes. The JB: Your bequest will keep alive the ideal that you The financial model would have to hold up ed to give La Pietra to the university, but Oxford have championed throughout your life—the con- original skepticism held by the people of on its own. is not set up with a central administration to templation of beauty. Florence shifted 180 degrees to what I would manage something far away. call a warm Italian embrace. …We have reached a level of institutional strength HA: Yes, indeed. That is what I hope and pray. It that permits us…to open the next century as the Bobby Lehman was the chairman of the enables me to feel that I can die happily. This was Debra at her best: translating and 110 quintessential global university. board of the Institute of Fine Arts. His father transporting the personality of NYU four 111 JB: Well, we don’t want you to do that for a very This view has come into sharper focus through had been Acton’s father’s great friend in thousand miles to the city of Florence. the recent gift of La Pietra, the spectacular Tuscan long time! HVWDWHZLWKLWVHQGRZPHQWDQGLWVPDJQL¿FHQWDUW Florence when they were both collecting art. —JUNE 28-29, 1987 Dave Finney worked on the physical plant works, left to the University by Sir Harold Acton. Through that connection, NYU was chosen to and formulated the study abroad model that is Named after a Roman milestone at its gate, La be the institution that would receive La Pietra. BOB BERNE: The Actons had created a magical still in use today. Andy Schaffer [NYU general Pietra represents a milestone in our history, too; it is a great metaphor for our future as it accelerates My predecessor, Carroll Newsom, went over place, a place that with forward thinking and counsel] was involved in the many legal issues our ability to extend to every NYU undergraduate to Florence to sign an agreement to accept it NYU’s aspirations could become a University that came about. And I was asked to take the opportunity to study abroad as part of his or just before I was appointed president [1962]. It venue that was unequaled in the world. responsibility for the garden, the art collection, her NYU education. then became my job to visit Harold frequently Roughly 50 rooms in the main villa were and the archives. —”OUR VISION FOR THE 21ST CENTURY,” during the 14 years I was president to assure decorated as the Actons had from 1903 to 1994. The art collection was easy because we L. JAY OLIVA, PRESIDENT, 1995 him that we intended to do well by La Pietra. Part of the will, along with the Italian historic had the Institute of Fine Arts. For the historic JIM HESTER: NYU has always had inclinations preservation restrictions, was that those histor- gardens, I linked up with Kim Wilkie, a British toward being an international institution. We JOHN BRADEMAS: I learned that Sir Harold Acton ic spaces would remain pretty much the same. landscape architect who is still the landscape had a tremendous percentage of foreign stu- had bequeathed La Pietra to New York Universi- At the same time, the building itself was not architect at the villa. Then we worked with dents in the University in my time. We had ty, so I went over to call on him. I found him an sustainable. If you made the mistake of turning Carol Mandel [dean of libraries] on the library a number of NYU abroad programs—one in immensely charming person. Because I was an on a light switch, you would see sparks. There and began thinking about the archives. Spain, one in Paris. The idea of having a Oxford man and Harold Acton had been up at was almost no plumbing to speak of in the One of the first people to see the value of La campus in Italy was a very appealing one. Oxford, we became great friends. main villa. Pietra was John Sexton, who was then dean of Excerpts from John Brademas’s I was responsible for getting all the artwork the law school. John began a series of confer- BOB BERNE: Harold Acton’s parents, Arthur and interview with Sir Harold Acton out. We needed to photograph every room because ences in international law, with Supreme Court Hortense, moved to Florence at the beginning every tchotchke, every picture, every vase need- justices from many countries, including the of the 20th century. Like many British and JB: You have decided, Sir Harold, to bequeath ed to go back pretty much where it came from. United States, gathering at La Pietra. La Pietra to New York University, so that the American families, they found Florence an University can preserve the unity of your parents’ Today, La Pietra is undoubtedly one of the attractive place for expatriates. collection and estate. How did you choose New GREG ALBANIS: There was one phone in the most magnificent gifts that any university Very soon after they arrived, they rented La York University? rotunda that weighed about 50 pounds. It was has received. ELLYN ELLYN TOSCANO: After leaving NYU Law School, It’s always a challenge to get students to TOSCANO I had a career in politics and public policy for be involved in the community. There are Director of Villa 20 years. Through that work, I came to know thousands of Americans in Florence, and yet La Pietra and Executive Director NYU quite well. Around 2003, somebody who it’s easy to go through life and never speak of NYU Florence knew I loved Italy and had studied there as Italian, or never really meet an Italian, except since 2004; LLM, a study abroad student said that there was a in the classroom. Law, 2001 position in Florence: Would I be interested in We require all of our students to study applying for it? Italian. And we have a large Italian faculty Which, in five seconds, I did. that’s thinking of different ways to teach them I traveled to Italy every summer and had been the language, not just in the classroom but told once, by a friend from NYU, that I should by going out into the city, or bringing Italian go visit La Pietra. I didn’t. Now I was offered the students up for dinners with our students chance to fly over and see it. where only Italian is permitted to be spoken. Having seen pictures, I said, “You don’t need A lot of people feel that when students to fly me there. I’ll take the job.” study abroad, they’re going to take only light I began working in September of 2004. courses—just enough to be earning credit but When I arrived, the building and the resto- not so much as to interfere with their travel ration were done. It was beautiful and sparkling schedules. Students want to be away almost and ready for programming. every weekend. That’s probably why I was chosen for the po- So we try to convey before they arrive that 4) sition: to help think strategically how to make the courses are going to be as rigorous as any- this beautiful villa useful to the University. thing they study in New York. But it’s not like The first challenge was how to get students we’re killjoys. We do want students to have fun. 112 81-<:) into a building that they feel initially is a The world is smaller and faster in some ways. 113 mausoleum containing old, dead art. In others it remains very local and provincial, in a NEW The second was to figure out how to respond thank God. We all have a culture we hang onto, to a community of Italians who were slightly and we should hang onto traditions. But it’s CENTURY anxious about a large American institution ar- important to have an awareness and an appreci- riving to own a very important property, fearful ation of other cultures. always that we were going to turn it into some And yes, education is the way to do it. You kind of Renaissance Disney. see kids who come with a natural belief that It was a lot of listening at the beginning— their way of doing things is the right way, from taking the ideas of people who had come dressing to talking to behaving in the streets to before me, who had worked there for many the way they learn. years, understanding what they had dreamed By the time they leave, they understand that about doing. their culture is an important culture. But it’s not We run a brilliant cultural season during the only one. the summer, which is two weeks of actors and La Pietra is an opening, a receptivity to a writers and performers living and working, different way of thinking and behaving. And and ultimately performing, in different rooms whatever difficulty they have acculturating at of the garden. the beginning, by the time they leave they are all The season was actually the idea of the beginning to angle for how they can come back. gardener, who said that the garden had been used in the time of the Actons as a stage for JAY OLIVA: La Pietra was an absolutely astonish- parties and performance. We decided that ing opportunity to live in that environment in having restored the villa to its structural integ- an intimate way. On the viale leading up to Villa rity, we needed to do restoration of its soul, to When you leave it, you say, “I didn’t just go to La Pietra. bring back the life it had before we arrived. school there. I became an Italian.” BECOMING THE DREAM SCHOOL

“CREATIVE, AGGRESSIVE, FASCINATING DEANS” BUILDING THE SCIENCES

ALICE HUANG: I was a professor of microbiology and molecular genetics at Harvard Medical School and also director of infectious diseases at Children’s Hospital, Boston. After almost 10 RICH STANLEY: If you get the impression that years, I was a little itchy to look around and see somehow the deans weren’t relevant to the what else I could be doing. development of the institution, that it was the For Immediate Release At the same time, my husband [David Balti- central administration that built the place: I’d more] was offered a job at Rockefeller Universi- HARVARD MICROBIOLOGIST ALICE S. hate to have anybody think that’s my view of HUANG APPOINTED DEAN FOR SCIENCE ty. I left Harvard because I realized that I prob- the world, because it isn’t. IN NYU FACULTY OF ARTS & SCIENCE ably would stay there as a professor for the rest of my life and not really have a chance to hold —MARCH 19, 1991: NYU NEWS SYLVIA BARUCH: One implication of the fact that any major leadership positions. And I was really there were very few people in central adminis- grateful that Duncan and John Sexton—John 114 tration is that the deans had to have an enor- DUNCAN RICE: Arts and Science at NYU is relatively chaired the search committee—were willing to 115 mous amount of power within their schools. big, as big as many independent universities, as give me the chance. So it really mattered who was the dean of Arts Jay kept reminding me. Washington Square Col- I came to NYU just when Jay Oliva took over. and Science, or the School of the Arts—more so lege was about the same size as Harvard College John Brademas had left a wonderful legacy. He than at other institutions that were more cen- or Yale College. And so it’s very important to have had gotten money through Congress to support trally controlled than we were at that time. somebody on the ground who has leadership the sciences here. Now they needed someone competence, who is genuinely conversant with who was going to spend it wisely. RICH STANLEY: We had some really, really the reasoning structures and the quality mecha- There were areas of strength. The Courant creative, aggressive, fascinating deans. I was nisms of each of the divisions. Institute was really a hotbed of intellectual very fortunate that I got a chance to work with The most outstanding example that comes activity. I knew I could build on that by doing almost all of them. to mind is Alice Huang, a very distinguished cross-disciplinary programs for some of the The financial structure—where every school scientist herself and a remarkable woman. She sciences that were just beginning to need math was responsible for its own financial success was able to apply standards across the board in in their research activities. and could invest only as much as it could gener- a way I couldn’t have done. One example was in biology—in genomic science. ate—required us to really understand what was Annette Weiner, another example, was Professor Gloria ALICE The human genome was being analyzed, and I knew going on and to make sure nobody was getting one of the most important social scientists in Coruzzi with HUANG that if I could tie that to the people at the Courant, it too far out ahead of themselves. the country, hugely important to me in the student. Dean for Science would be quite a competitive program. from 1991–97; In the end, it’s the institution that would have social sciences. Professor of Also, I realized that I could take advantage of been bankrupt, not an individual school. But Prior to that, it was almost accidental if you Biology from the Courant for the computer science part, be- NYU was really fortunate and skillful at attracting happened to have somebody in the leadership 1991–98 cause at the Tisch School Red Burns had wonder- entrepreneurial deans. structure who was scientifically literate. I’d had ful ideas of how to use technology in the arts. Jay’s phrase was “the persistence of ambi- Ben Bederson, who’s a very, very distinguished It was a time of fantastic opportunity. With tion.” You knew where you wanted to get to and physicist, as head of the graduate school. But in the dowry that Brademas had left the Universi- you knew you couldn’t get to it right away, but effect one needed to have a functioning scholar ty, we were able to take advantage of it. you kept at it. in each of these divisions to be the leader. Deputy Chancellor THE PERENNIAL Sylvia Baruch.

QUEST FROM NO ACCREDITATION TO JESS BENHABIB: In the early ’80s, philosophy didn’t even have a doctoral program. There FOR SPACE were a few good people, and of course Tom NUMBER ONE: Nagel was here. But frankly, there was no ambi- tion to really build until Paul Boghossian came. He is one of the most ambitious people I know 80147;780A for the institution. He worked very hard [as department chair], and he went after a lot JOHN DESANTIS: The first dean for science, RICH STANLEY: It was always a struggle to figure of people. Of course, he had good judgment. Alice Huang, had a great sense of building. She out how to find the right kind of space and could think very, very fast and had a good sense sufficient amounts of space to support strong SYLVIA BARUCH: The philosophy department of planning. sciences. It’s no coincidence that the Courant had lost its accreditation to give a PhD. That Our organic chemistry classroom was out Institute was one of the strongest scientific was a source of embarrassment. As soon as we of the thirties, literally. It was a disgrace. The operations at the University. They just didn’t had the resources to do something about it, odors there would take your breath away. After have the same kind of space requirements we bolstered that department. the tour she took with me, she went right up that an engineering school or a biochemistry to the president’s office and said, “We have department has. TONY JUDT: The big goal I achieved at NYU, in to renovate these spaces.” And got the money Over the years, we developed a strategy of collaboration with Paul Boghossian and a within the next two days. doing small labs on the upper floors of existing couple of others in the philosophy department, We had to shut the lab from May to bring it buildings to take advantage of that upper floor Also, at many institutions you have a was that we decided it was absolutely unaccept- 116 back up on September 1, which we’d promised. space, which was closer to where you could changing management structure. People able that a university that aspired to be in the 117 We worked seven days a week. vent hoods and not have to run pipes and infra- stay two years or three years and then leave. front rank of Arts and Science establishments structure through the whole building. That was never the case at NYU. All of us who in the English-speaking world had such a third- SYLVIA BARUCH: We built across the sciences, That’s the reason that the top of the Brown worked together knew each other very well. rate philosophy department. especially but not only neuroscience. We also Building and the top of the Main Building had We knew who had the soundest judgment, It had first-rate people, but they lived at the developed the biology department under been developed into labs. who had the management sense. And so we law school for the most part. The philosophy Phil Furmanski, another chair who was very could be entrepreneurial. department as a whole was shapeless. entrepreneurial, very smart. JOHN DESANTIS: I spent my day on the phone I grew up in a world where the smartest You needed to balance the needs and prob- with Sylvia Baruch, the deputy chancellor at ALICE HUANG: I was awfully lucky to be men- people you knew were molecular biologists lems within the institution. But you also had that time. She really ran the day-to-day. She had tored by Duncan Rice and by Sylvia Baruch. It and analytical philosophers. to make a guess as to the future needs of the a finger in everything, didn’t forget anything. takes someone special to do management in The cheapest thing you could do about the intellectual life of the country—where you want education because faculty are so independent. big aspirations was to build a philosophy de- to meet your competition. SYLVIA BARUCH: I used to joke to myself that a When we were trying to hire David partment. You don’t need labs. You don’t need sign of professional growth is the realization McLaughlin, who was coming from Princeton, a big library—because those guys don’t read JOHN DESANTIS: Everybody wanted walls. that there’s no sense being all that anxious I remember taking him aside and saying, “You l to r: Philosophy DUNCAN RICE: I get a little nervous about the much. And I knew that Paul Boghossian and They wanted well-defined spaces. “This is my about anything because something worse will were made for this place. Your understanding professors Chris- hypothesis that you should do only what you’re Tom Nagel had very good taste. topher Peacocke, turf. You want to get in? You have to knock on happen tomorrow. of physics as well as applied math are what we good at. Within reason, that has to hold true. I called a meeting with them and a couple Paul Boghossian, my door.” But our schools have always been so strong, need at the Courant.” and Ned Block But you must also keep enough strength in of other people and told them I was willing But Phil Furmanski pushed what’s called and there were wonderful deans. There weren’t He said, “But all my life I’ve wanted to be at meet over lunch most of the standard areas. Not just because to spend or get Duncan to commit relatively at a Greenwich an open lab concept, multiple PIs [principal many layers to go through. So if somebody an Ivy League school.” the young have to be taught things, but significant funds if they could promise me Village café. investigators] in the same space. Not only does came to us with a good idea and said, “Let’s do “You can always say you were a professor at because reputationally you lose so dreadfully that in five years they could put the philosophy it improve the communication among the this,” it could be done almost immediately. At Princeton,” I said. “But you could do so much if you don’t. department in the top five of the country. various scientists, but instead of consuming public institutions, you have a political world to more here.” For instance, to try to be a top-20 university It worked, and they are now number one in 30-35 percent of your space for circulation, consider, which we didn’t. He was one of my best hires. in the States without a philosophy department the country and have been for some years. I’m that space becomes part of your lab. is just the counsel of despair. very proud of that. “STUDENTS WANTED ALICE HUANG: Another area that was very the traffic pattern in a street in Seattle. TO COME” important in the development of science in FAS And it’s being broadcast over this thing called was the Center for Neural Science, headed up the Internet.” by Tony Movshon. When I first realized what Nobody had really heard about that. they were doing, I would say to some of my Partly because of Courant and partly because 6A= friends, “Either Tony is ahead of the curve or of people like George, who could see this he’s off the curve.” thing coming, NYU was able to start to build a :-6-?-, It turned out that in systems neuroscience, network structure. he really was ahead of the curve and organized There were glitches along the way. During a department that took advantage of computer the Napster days, the network would crash science, of old psychology and the social sci- occasionally when too many students were ences, and of experiments that have been done downloading music all night long. DAVE MCLAUGHLIN: When I returned to NYU in in psychology but never with a quantitative But it was an advantage to be doing so much 1994, the financial crisis of the early- and mid- approach. renovation or building at the time because we ’70s was over. The city and Greenwich Village Then there was all the work being done to were able to build into the dormitories these were doing very well, and New York University map the brain. The mapping required a lot of network infrastructures right from the start. was a place to which students wanted to come. computational capabilities. And so I was able to utilize that division to build bridges to biology ALICE HUANG: The New York State Foundation for RICH STANLEY: By the mid-’90s, you couldn’t and chemistry. Science and Technology was looking to establish stop students from wanting to be here. En- centers of advanced technology throughout the rollment became wildly selective. So many RICH STANLEY: The Academic Computing Facili- state, hoping to create jobs. students who were qualified to attend the ty had an interesting evolution. Max Goldstein, I had been working with Jack Schwartz and institution were applying. the director, had been a scientist at Los Alamos Ken Perlin. Jack was one of the most highly 118 who then was associated with the Atomic En- respected computer scientists in robotics. 119 ALICE HUANG: NYU was smart enough to ride the ergy Commission. The Courant managed to get He was like a guru to the younger computer wave of young people who wanted to be here, one of the major new early computers here to scientists at the Courant. He was fearless. He and parents who felt that at least the University support that research. And Max started figuring would try anything. I think it was he who provided a safe haven for their kids. out ways to give other faculty members time on attracted Ken to come here. I remember that we were talking about a RICH STANLEY: Every year the aspirations were When day broke, they issued a manifesto—that that computer. Ken is one of the few computer scientists strategic way of getting better students. As we not only for the number of students but for the Village should secede from Manhattan and who won an Oscar for technology. He was a gradually inched up the SAT requirements, we how much the SATs would change from the become the Republic of the Heart and Mind. PETER LAX: In 1980, Max was made director wonderful programmer. We were really realized that if we admitted the best we could previous year. That had not been part of the I always thought the Artists’ Revolt was a of the newly created Academic Computing interested in creating what nowadays would get, we had a chance of getting a large number discussion in the 1980s. In the ’80s, you didn’t wonderful symbol of the Village and its rela- “THIS THING Facility. By skillfully and forcefully managing be called apps that would help professors who just because they wanted to be in New York have the depth of the applicant pool to be tionship to the rest of the city and the world. CALLED THE that facility, Max brought computing to New wanted to make teaching modules for students. City, wanted to be in the Village. highly selective. When students come here, they’ve come to York University and put NYU on the map in the We ended up cooking up this huge proj- Now we started to attract students who did a place that has a history, a mythology and world of computing. ect that pulled in psychologists, some social DAVE MCLAUGHLIN: I returned as a professor of not need a lot of hand holding to take advan- romance. Part of being here is to absorb that INTERNET” scientists who were interested in teaching, the mathematics and as the director of the Courant tage of New York. romance and to let it become a part of them. RICH STANLEY: In a quiet way, Max almost sin- School of Education, and Red Burns from the Institute. There was no doubt that the quality of gle-handedly kept computing moving forward. Tisch School. undergraduate students had skyrocketed since MARY SCHMIDT CAMPBELL: In the Washington GEORGE STONEY: It’s very important that a THE BIRTH OF He would figure out ways for faculty to do the We applied for a grant—and we got $1 mil- I left in the early ’70s. Every senior professor felt Square Arch, there is a door you can actually university be right in the middle of life. kind of things they wanted to do in the social lion a year for 10 years. That’s how the Courant that the quality of the students was improved in open. A stairway goes up to the top of the arch. SILICON sciences as well as in the sciences. Institute CAT, or Center for Advanced Technolo- a very, very significant way. One night in 1917, a group of artists, poets, and ALLEY Then it started to become clear that one gy, got started. The excitement around the Square was about writers took some wine, some Chinese lanterns, needed to have a very robust computing infra- The Internet was just beginning. Then all the quality of the undergraduate program, a little food, opened the door, and went up structure to support research. sorts of little companies started up. Silicon the intensity of its students, and the way the to the top of the arch. They spent a night Max eventually retired and was replaced by a Alley is down in this area because many of the students interacted not only with NYU and its singing and writing and just enjoying each guy named George Sadowsky. I can remember young graduates who had worked with Ken got disciplines but with the city. other’s company. George calling me into his office one day. He involved in setting up Web companies. said, “Look what I’ve got on my screen. I can see All of this came together at the right time. “URBAN IS ”

HOT Tisch School of the Arts

ALEC BALDWIN: When I arrived at NYU you could ALEC BALDWIN feel the difference. The only word that comes BFA, Tisch, to mind is seriousness. There was a seriousness 1994; Honorary that was strikingly different from any other Doctorate, 2010 program I had ever seen—or have seen since. I genuinely believe that if I didn’t go to a school as good as this one, it would have negatively affected my ability to do what I’ve done. Because when you study acting, they’re giving you a lot of the tools and material that the commercial world is not going to supply 120 MARY SCHMIDT CAMPBELL: The first dean, Dean you. When you have that training, it’s a Corrigan, had a mission—that the School of profound advantage. the Arts was going to be a “daring adventure.” The support I received from Tisch made it By that he meant that we were going to go possible for me to become an actor and to have out and find the very best students and create a career in this business. an environment where they could take risks, experiment, push the edge a little bit, in close GREG ALBANIS: I always said, “Don’t discount collaboration with the professional communi- popular culture in making New York and NYU ties of artists in New York City. That was a new look so good”—all these sitcoms that romanti- model for an arts school at the time. cize what it’s like to live in New York City. When I see certain shows on Broadway or on SHERIL ANTONIO: Dean Campbell had been the TV, and there’s always a character who goes to city’s cultural affairs commissioner. The first NYU, I’m sure it’s one of the Tisch screenwriters thing she did was to reach out to all the people who inserts all those kids, who romanticizes for we have relationships with now—Spike Lee, students that urban is hot. Martin Scorsese, Oliver Stone, who are our graduates, from Ang Lee down to the person MARY SCHMIDT CAMPBELL: For me, our artists Journalist Charles who just made a first film. represent a way of knowing the world. What’s Kuralt and Jay great about their training at Tisch is that they Oliva filming an MARY SCHMIDT CAMPBELL: The Tisch model is are trained as artists but they learn their craft admissions video in the Village—the that you learn by doing. If it is filmmaking in the context of a great research university. first time NYU or acting, you learn by practicing your craft They have access to religion, to philosophy, to featured its own over and over again—and you practice your science. We need to create the kind of artists neighborhood as a selling point craft with a faculty who are themselves who can go out in the world and be the to prospective working artists. world’s conscience. students. 1993 Matthew Santirocco.

A VENTURE OF THEIR OWN: TONY JUDT: In 1995, I got a very nice offer from THE BERKLEY CENTER FOR the University of Chicago. I didn’t go and look for it; they came to me. I was very happy here. RICH STANLEY: Jay was very, very insistent on ENTREPRENEURIAL STUDIES It was a chair in the Committee on Social developing a sense of activity at the street level. Thought, which is a very nice job at a very nice When you walk around today, you take it for place. My wife is the daughter of two University granted. But if you go back to the early ’80s, the of Chicago people. It was the only offer I’ve had ground floor of the Main Building was painted The first entrepreneurship course was while I’ve been here that I might have taken. windows with army surplus desks and the regis- offered by the Stern School of Business in Duncan and Phil Furmanski were just chang- tration department in there. Either you looked 1982, followed by the establishment of the ing over. I talked to them—and also to Sylvia. inside and saw people hunched over desks, Center for Entrepreneurial Studies in 1984. Sylvia very bluntly said, “What would it take to shuffling paper—or you couldn’t see anything In 1993, trustee Bill Berkley made it pos- 1995 keep you here?” at all. sible for the center to expand and flourish. “WHAT WE DO What I wanted to do was to establish an insti- There was a sense that the University was tute to encourage what was starting to become shutting out the community and certainly not BILL BERKLEY: It began with the idea that en- IS CREATE A a major problem—the loss of interest in this welcoming the students to do anything except trepreneurship isn’t something you study, like CONVERSATION” country in the overseas world. pass along the sidewalk. math or science. Entrepreneurship is a state I said to Sylvia and to Jay, “I will do this if you of mind. It’s about always being able to look at THE REMARQUE promise that once you’ve given me the money, RUSS HAMBERGER: That corner building where the opportunity as opposed to the risk—under- and I promise that once a year I’ll tell you how “THE COLLEGE MATTHEW SANTIROCCO: There is a rhetorical the placement office was, on the corner of standing the risk, but seeing the opportunity. INSTITUTE I spent it, you’ll never, ever second-guess the problem for NYU. We get better and better so Washington Square East and West Fourth, So the idea of the center was to get people people I invite or the topics I bring in.” DIDN’T HAVE fast. How do we talk about our past without had windows painted black. You couldn’t look who have the desire to do things the tools they I stayed. And NYU has been true to its word, disrespecting it or disempowering the people into it. need to go off on their own. We have business JOHN BRADEMAS: I learned that the widow of which is more than most universities I know A HOME” who were part of it? 122 plan competitions. We try to get people to think Erich Maria Remarque, author of All Quiet on would have been. People will joke, “My NYU degree is worth so RICH STANLEY: Building by building, we would 123 about what it takes to succeed and survive. the Western Front, had donated the library of Primarily, what we do is create a conversa- much more now than when I got it.” But the find ways to move things out of the ground Most entrepreneurs fail because they run out her late husband to the Bobst Library. She was tion. We bring young people—students, young THE NEED FOR fact is, when you got it, NYU was a great place. floor, open them up, renovate. Even if the rest of money. That’s not why big businesses fail. living in New York, so I went to call on her. academics, young professional people in the SIGNATURE SPACE The College of Arts and Science, when I got of the building wasn’t getting renovated, get Frequently, their ideas are bad. But small compa- Well, she was Paulette Goddard, the film world of the arts, NGOs, foundations, public here, was a wonderful place, with terrific the ground floors renovated. Get some lounges nies fail because they run out of money. So you actress. She started asking me back to tea. Tea service, business, sometimes the military. We students, terrific faculty. But symbolically the built so that there were places to hang out don’t only need a good idea, you don’t only need with Paulette Goddard was pink champagne put them together with people from Romania, college didn’t quite have a home. The depart- between classes. to work hard: You have to have enough money to at 4 in the afternoon in her apartment in the Canada, Mexico, Norway, and create off-the- ments in Arts and Science can’t be contained Over time, places like Starbucks and the implement the idea. Waldorf Towers. record, intensive debates and conversations in any one building. They cover many different other cafés developed. It took a while to get to At the core of entrepreneurship is dissatis- I never called her Paulette and she never about contemporary topics that matter. streets and properties devoted to the social a point where there were enough students and faction with the status quo. An addiction to called me John, but one day she said, “Dr. Brade- Many of those we’ve had here as promising sciences, languages, the science building. enough business to justify them. But it really change or drive toward bigger, better, and fast- mas, I would like to leave my estate to New York young people are now foreign ministers of their Where’s the college? changed the character of the University. er—and the exercise of the imagination without University and I would like to have your help.” countries or heads of universities. We’ve been What we now call the Silver Center for Arts restraint. This is the culture we will continue to Without missing a beat, I responded, very successfully creating an international and Science was then called Main Building. But MATTHEW SANTIROCCO: You go in now, it’s just make synonymous with that of NYU. “Ms. Goddard, that’s wonderful, and I propose network. MATTHEW it didn’t feel like that. It felt like a workhorse, glamorous. On a given evening, the lights are SANTIROCCO There are so many things to do and to that we marry your interests to the needs of Second, we have fellows, some in the sciences Associate Provost which it was and still is. The challenge for us blazing because there’s a show going on at the change. In fact, John Sexton speaks of dissat- the University.” but mostly in the arts, from all over the world for Undergraduate was to make the Main Building main—that is, Grey Art Gallery. There’s a lecture at the Jurow isfaction with the status quo as something Her will left us $20 million, which at the and all over the States who come here to take Academic Affairs to make the college seen as central. Lecture Hall, with a spillover reception in the since 2004; unique about NYU. We’re not about sitting back time was the largest private bequest in the advantage of New York, the library, the people Dean of the The space is a metaphor. When you walked Silverstein Lounge, a beautiful lounge designed on our laurels. We’re not about being here and history of NYU. we put them in touch with. College of Arts in, there was a staircase. There was a narrow by Geddes Helpern. And then the signature saying, “Isn’t that great!” We’re about saying, With it we created the Remarque Institute, What we have shown is that the one thing and Science since rabbit-warren of hallways. There were windows space, Hemmerdinger Hall, designed by Jim Pol- 1994; Professor “Okay, this is what we did yesterday, what’s up then led so ably by Professor Tony Judt, for the America—or maybe it’s just New York or maybe of Classics that faced the Square with blinds on them shek, hosts some of our most important events. for tomorrow?” study of other parts of the world, especially it’s just NYU—can do is still be a place where since 1994 because there were back offices located there. The building’s alive with activity, with the NYU is the epitome of an entrepreneurial Europe. We also created a number of chairs in non-Americans will be made welcome. Jay Oliva saw that the college needed some windows open onto the street. We gave a spatial university. creative writing and in the Tisch School. signature space. identity to the college. BOB BERNE: NYU became a residential campus buses that looks like an old-fashioned trolley rapidly—you might even say too rapidly. The and get it around.” bricks and mortar, it turns out, are probably I said, “What’s the problem?” the easy part. The harder part is establishing He says, “It’s expensive. We don’t have student life around the campus that would the money.” appropriately supplement the more formal I said, “Well, what does it cost?” classroom education experiences. He told me, and I said, “Go ahead and do it.” New York City’s a complicated place. And we It’s a hundred little things like that. attract students who have very diverse and mul- tiple interests. You could say to students, “Well, ALLEN CLAXTON: We had a Washington Square it’s New York. Just take advantage of the city.” Park cleanup every spring. I can remember But you really have to provide much more. It’s scraping and painting the benches. We were all the programming, it’s the residential life, it’s expected to be there. advising students in the dorm, it’s the mental This was community outreach before the health services—the whole range of things that renovation of the park. It was symbolic, but it have been put into place in the last 25 years. was more than just a symbol. It reflected some- thing that was important to us. FARRAH FARRAH PEPPER: It used to be that the only time PEPPER people came together was at Commencement. BOB KIVETZ: Jay was very hands-on. He knew JD, Law, 2001; BA, College of Arts and It was an odd feeling—seeing all these people a lot of students. He knew things that were Science, 1998 and not having had the opportunity to meet going on, sometimes things we didn’t even them in your years there. know about. One of the smallest things Jay was But events like Grad Alley and Autumn Fest— involved in, which is really a big thing, is the big community events where everyone can purple flags outside the buildings. 125 come out, look around, and know that everyone there is a fellow NYU person—have done a lot to RICH STANLEY: You didn’t really know what build a sense of community. was an NYU building and what wasn’t. Back in It’s important at any university, especially those days, there were still old hat and button NYU, because it’s in Manhattan. Probably one of factories, vestiges of the garment trade. the best-selling points of NYU is that you have The banners in front of the buildings and on all of Manhattan at your disposal, but it also the light poles pulled it all together, and in a means people do things away from campus. way that was remarkably effective, considering And if there aren’t these events to give people a how simple the idea was. reason to congregate with their fellow students, sometimes we’d lose them to all the things RUSS HAMBERGER: I remember being with going on in the larger city. a colleague from one of the schools in our athletic association—having dinner with him GREG ALBANIS: Jay was a son of NYU. He came in the Village and walking around. He came from the Heights, taught at the Heights, was from a campus school, and as we walked a faculty member. He was a down-to-earth around and saw all the flags, he said, “You do president. He always said he wanted to make have a campus here.” big look small. BOB KIVETZ: That was Jay’s idea. It really brought LEONARD STERN: One day I was having a drink a sense of community. You walk outside any with Jay after work in his office. And he says, building and you’re in the streets of New York. A TOTAL EXPERIENCE “We’ve got a real problem. We have the dorms But you could always identify an NYU building over there, but there’s no flow. You know what by the purple flag. THE QUALITY OF STUDENT LIFE I would like to do? Get one of these gussied-up “AN INSTITUTION DRAMATICALLY ON THE MAKE” A SAFETY BUILDING ON SCHOOL SERENDIPITY NO LONGER A PORTAL OF OPPORTUNITY: RUSS HAMBERGER: Admission offices would say When I graduated in New Haven, someone BUYING EXCELLENCE: it takes about 10 years—whether you get much said to me, “When are you coming back to FINANCIAL better or get worse—before the word gets out. Yale?” I said, “I don’t think I’ll ever come back. How N.Y.U. Rebuilt Itself – The change for me was when friends with kids Four years in New Haven were just fine with A special report who were very good students were applying to me.” And I loved Yale. I had incredible profes- AID school, and suddenly NYU was on their list. sors and incredible fellow students. A Decade and $1 Billion Put Harvard can do whatever it wants and it’s He said, “But you’re not really going to go to N.Y.U. With the Elite still Harvard. But it’s taken a long time for NYU for the rest of your life.” those of us who have been here since those I said, “I really think I am.” WILLIAM H. HONAN years to get over the sense of inferiority, to There was an assumption in the mid-’90s that Ten years ago, New York University was what col- realize what we’ve accomplished. people would go to NYU for a while but then go lege-bound students from New York regarded as a RICH STANLEY: Tisch led because of the unique- was going to be an institution that did not de- to a real university, a big research university— VDIHW\VFKRROIRXUWKRU¿IWKRQWKHLUDSSOLFDWLRQOLVWV ness of its programs. But all of the schools were pend on privilege and upbringing as the major JAY OLIVA: The expression “Miracle on Washing- Yale or Princeton or Harvard. If you didn’t get into Cornell or Brandeis or Brown starting to attract very, very good students. means of judging who should be attending University, you could always commute to N.Y.U. 126 ton Square” has different resonances. The first Needless to say, I haven’t. But the administration, doing some long-range The Faculty of Arts and Science programs were and who shouldn’t be. That idea stayed in the 127 is that New York came back. But it was also a planning, decided that being the safety school was every bit as successful as Tisch. mission and in the thinking of lots of people. notion for those of us who had been through a MATTHEW SANTIROCCO: Everybody in the busi- not good enough. So in 1984, it began a brash The students who would be accepted at Har- It wasn’t like we had a discussion every year campaign aimed at moving the school into the period when the University could have disinte- ness knew that things were going on at New nation’s top tier of universities. And according to vard and Columbia and Stanford brought to the that said we have to have X number of people grated and didn’t. York University. If you were in the arts and academics around the country who have looked on table expectations for higher levels of financial who come from first-generation families. It was The fact that students were knocking on our sciences, you knew that Duncan Rice was doing with envy, the strategy worked. aid from NYU because they were being offered just how the admissions office always thought In what was a remarkable fund drive at the time, doors, that there are faculty around the world wonderful things and hiring extraordinary the University set out to raise $1 billion. But unlike higher levels of financial aid in other places. about its job. And how those of us who were who want to be New Yorkers, that there are people. You knew that the quality of students most institutions, which plow such sums into their We started to make financial aid a very im- trying to find the resources for financial aid students all over the world who don’t know it was, even then, getting better and better. endowments and then live off the interest, N.Y.U. portant element in delivering the kinds of stu- thought about our job. spent nearly all of it to rebuild the University. but they’re New Yorkers: It was an enormous I was coming to an institution dramatically It lured scholars from Princeton and Harvard dents we wanted. And that put a lot of pressure It is interesting how a culture can start to transformation. on the make. and Stanford and Chicago. It created a top neural on the budget. With the high costs of tuition become natural to a place without anybody Year by year, six months by six months, we’ve science center. It opened a new performing arts and the residence hall rates, the requirements having to articulate it constantly. That certainly school, an institute of mathematics, an Italian MATTHEW SANTIROCCO: When I came here, in seen extraordinary transformations. Some of studies center…. for many families to borrow were starting to was the case all the time I was here. 1994, there was an article in NYU Today, the them we could have predicted, because we had  $QGLWKDVLQFUHDVLQJO\EHFRPHWKH¿UVWFKRLFH become overwhelming. University’s publication, about risk takers— planned for them. Some we couldn’t have. We of students who apply…. In 2002, Julius Silver, who had received Joel Conarroe, president of the John Simon Gug- interesting folk who had left positions at other built on serendipity and then strategized seren- genheim Memorial Foundation, which evaluates ALLEN CLAXTON: We made sure that on a per- an annual scholarship of $77.50 and a universities for New York University. dipity, if that’s even conceivable. faculty at colleges nationwide for its prestigious centage basis we increased the financial aid $100 loan to be able to attend New York I was in that article. But I remember thinking fellowships, said, “N.Y.U. has recently become a ULI budget more than we increased tuition. But University, died at 101. Before his death, great university, and if it continues to develop at BAER it was an odd thesis. For me, the risk would JAY OLIVA: It would be enormously unlikely that this pace, it may well gain admittance early in the there was always an issue of how much finan- Silver gave NYU the largest cash gift it Vice Provost for have been in not coming to NYU. any more great universities would emerge, with next century to that small, charmed circle of ex- cial aid we could afford to give. had received until then—$150 million. ceptionally distinguished institutions.”… Globalization one exception. And that was us. So if you want and Multicultur- The gift was unusual in its designation  6DLG'DYLG/HYLWVN\D¿OPPDMRUDW1<8 ULI BAER: My very first job was at NYU. I got here to be where the world meets anew for the next from East Northport, L.I., “Many of my friends al Affairs since RICH STANLEY: The history of the institution for endowed named faculty chairs in Arts 2007; Professor of as an assistant professor straight out of grad generation, try us. went to colleges with lawns and trees, but for me articulated by Jay in particular was that this and Science as well as in its support of this is where it’s happening.” German and Com- school at Yale. NYU was a very different univer- parative Literature was a different type of university. It was the scholarships. It focused on people—not sity in ’95 when I came. —MARCH 20, 1995: THE NEW YORK TIMES since 1996 university of Albert Gallatin and the portal for bricks and mortar. the working man and the practical arts. NYU being as good as your competitors. I tried to do TOWARD A both, to normalize, to make our financial aid competitive with our peer institutions, to try to have graduate courses that were as good as our COMMUNITY OF peer institutions, to set up new recruitment strategies to recruit better students. Just to say, “We can do this.” INQUIRY What did we do to innovate? Master’s edu- cation was the most rapidly growing degree in the country. We really tried to build ours up. It GRADUATE SCHOOL OF was good for revenue, but it was also good for a sense of the school as a whole—recognizing ARTS AND SCIENCE where the intellectual energy should be. We started something called the Graduate Forum 1998 that was a national model for bringing students together on an interdisciplinary basis as an PETER LENNIE: One of my closest colleagues intellectual community. from graduate school days is Tony Movshon. If NYU was going to be an outstanding We were in the same field. I knew a great deal KATE research university, the graduate school had to STIMPSON about what he’d set up here at the Center for KATE STIMPSON: NYU had put its energy into its lead the way as a community of inquiry. And Dean of the Grad- Neural Science. So when he drew my attention professional schools and its undergraduate col- graduate education depends on the relation- uate School of to the possibility of coming here as dean of Arts and Science lege. There was law, pretty much a world unto ship—the intellectual relationship, as well from 1998–2010; science, I was pretty interested. itself; there was medicine, a world unto itself. as, we hope, the spiritual and moral relation- Professor of En- My role as dean was to help strengthen 128 There was business, increasingly a world unto ship—of professors to students. They come for a glish since 1998; science at Washington Square. It was widely 129 Affiliated Faculty at itself. Then there were the smaller schools—so- program, they come for a professor. So we had the School of Law recognized that the resurgence of the Universi- cial work, education—but they didn’t have the to work happily with Dick Foley in Arts and since 1998 ty had been least strong in science. Courant, of clout of the big professional schools. Science to bring in the best possible faculty. course, had been enormously strong for a very The University also had some very distin- long time and maintained its distinction. The guished departments, but it was not a very PETER LENNIE: I learned an enormous amount PETER Center for Neural Science had emerged from LENNIE distinguished place. My predecessor, Annette by watching people here do what they do well, Dean for Science almost nowhere to be a powerhouse. There were Weiner, an excellent anthropologist, started the particularly people like Dick Foley. I thought he from 1998-2006; some other departments that were strong. But climb up. She was tough, much tougher than I was masterful at his job, unsurpassably good. Professor of Neu- looking across the board, people felt that the ral Science from Professor Peter was. Financial aid money had been in individ- 1998–2006 Lax with student. pace of progress in science had not kept pace ual graduate programs. She pulled it all back. KATE STIMPSON: We set up the Master’s College, with the progress in the other disciplines—and She started the MacCracken Fellows, funding the first in the country, which was to support that some investments in science were really for doctoral students. Annette took this dis- and sustain master’s students—whether ice required to move things forward. parate collection of departments and cracked skating parties or intellectual programs. It “ What was immensely enriching—and it heads. She had a sense of intellectual standards. sounds corny, but you have to have it, even if EMERGING always is for a dean—is being able to see how The job of dean was: One, to give a sense you’re a university where irony prevails. the other disciplines work and being able to of pride that we didn’t have to go skulking We live in a social world, in a historical world. absorb them, respecting the differences and around, because there were some very, very Context is a lot. But you have to have the people, .:75)457;< understanding why things are as they are in good things here and a very, very good history. both as individuals and working together. disciplinary domains that are far removed from Two, we had to normalize, to be like other In FAS, we all understood each other. We ” your own. good graduate schools. We didn’t yet have the all had—let’s put it frankly—little streaks of NOWHERE : I was able to play a small part in helping strength to innovate. eccentricity, some of us more concealed and to change the culture, helping departments If you’re in a comparatively weak position, disguised than others. But it was fun because STRENGTHENING think ambitiously. you can throw the book out and start all over we had a shared purpose. We were going to again or you can put a lot of resources into be preeminent. SCIENCE 1998 BOB BERNE: Before 1997, we had in the health MARTIN LIPTON: This merger was consummated complex a medical school, a dental school, in July 1998, with the understanding that the the Sackler Institute of Graduate Biomedical merged hospitals, of which John Rowe, CEO of NOT ALL Sciences, and a hospital—all owned by the Mount Sinai, would become CEO, would borrow University. $1 billion to refinance $500 million of Mount EXPERIMENTS Sinai debt and to invest $400 million in a new MARTY LIPTON: When managed care became per- NYU hospital. vasive, it was clear that the hospital, which had SUCCEED previously been subsidizing the medical school, BOB BERNE: The strength of academic med- would be no longer able to do so. Indeed, the ical centers is the partnership between the hospital might start losing money. school and the hospital. By creating a hospital THE MEDICAL We worried that the financial problems of the organization with two schools, you increase hospital, which was not a separate entity but an the complexity of trying to get the schools and SCHOOL MERGER integral part of the University, would have an ad- hospital to work together. verse impact on the finances of the University and Mount Sinai ran into some financial problems drive us back to the financial crises of the 1970s, shortly after the merger. There wasn’t effective which had threatened our survival. clinical integration. And in the corporate ser- For years we struggled: Should we incor- vices, where people thought, “Now you’d have a porate the hospital and separate it from the great finance department, a great development University? Could we find a merger that would office, great IT, great purchasing, great managed alleviate some of the problems of the hospital? care contracting,” they all were subpar. It became a central focus of Larry Tisch, my- self, George Heyman, others on the board, and ANN MARCUS: It was a huge distraction for Jay 130 of Saul Farber, who was both the dean of the and for Harvey Stedman, who was then pro- 131 medical school and head of the hospital. vost—a front-burner crisis for three or four years. Having come out of the legacy of the fiscal BOB BERNE: It was a time of big mergers, when crisis and then having the leaders bogged down people thought that you needed bigger and in the Medical Center, we didn’t do as well as deeper medical centers to deal with anticipat- we might have. ed changes in reimbursement and insurance. Our trustees thought that, as a medium-sized MARTY LIPTON: The merger did not work. Major hospital, the Medical Center would be better off mergers, particularly of institutions that have a with a partner. long history and their own culture, rarely work. Initially, they looked to Mount Sinai to merge The Medical Center situation continued to be the medical schools and the hospital. But our a major distraction and threat to the well-being faculty was dead set against merging the two of the University. schools. The trustees looked for other partners, but eventually they came back to Mount Sinai. BOB BERNE: Yet we have also merged successful- They decided they would not merge the ly. NYU Hospitals Center, which includes Tisch medical schools—NYU Medical School would Hospital, merged with the Hospital for Joint stay part of the University—but they’d spin off Diseases and is now part of the NYU Medical the hospital into an organization with Mount Center. We did it gradually, supported at the Sinai Hospital, a new entity large enough to top by the trustees and by the faculty and staff. assume some of the risk and hopefully run as We had a long period of affiliation before the an integrated institution. legal merger. It was a win-win. So mergers don’t have to be dysfunctional. But NYU became a little gun shy. TURNING the facilities and, most important, the quality MIKE of the faculty. And so at the very beginning of ALFANO THE CORNER Executive Vice my tenure as dean, I emphasized building a President since quality clinical program. <0-:-<=:6 2006; Dean of Once we created some momentum in the the College of REBUILDING THE clinical area, we began to recruit scientists. I Dentistry from 1998–2006; ALUMNI knew we were on the right track when one day Professor of 7.  COLLEGE OF one of the old-time clinicians poked his head in Basic Science the door and said, “These research people you’ve and Craniofacial Biology since DENTISTRY been recruiting”—and I thought, Oh, here it 1998 comes—”they’re just wonderful to work with.” Then I knew we were turning the corner. MIKE ALFANO: The single most important thing Treating patients The other thing that was tough to work out— at the NYU dental I did—and I had to think about this before I 1998 and I’m not going to put a gloss over this—was clinic. decided to do it—was to apologize to previous that cheating was a significant issue in the alums. It’s not often that a dean sends a letter college. It was a significant issue nationally, too. of apology. And I was apologizing for what I went from being a person who said, “Well, Forty percent of college students admit to happened before I was there. it might be nice to be here” to “I really would cheating. That’s a different world than I knew First, the school had a reputation for having like to have the opportunity to be appointed.” as a student. very tough faculty members who would disre- That feeling was heightened when I left the We just made a commitment that we were spect students. A famous story that’s legend is 132 interviews and started to walk across Washing- not going to tolerate it. that a faculty member threw a student’s work 133 ton Square Park. There were the old Italian guys First, we had to convince the faculty that out the window onto First Avenue. playing bocce ball in one segment of the park, we would actually follow through, that if Terrible. And there are even more outrageous somebody whizzed past me in dreadlocks on the charges were proven, we would have the stories. a skateboard in another part of the park, and courage to do what was necessary. Of course, Of course the school was not like that even MIKE ALFANO: Before I joined the NYU faculty there was a juggler by the fountain. we warned the students. And we did expel some when I arrived. My predecessor had substantially I was senior vice president for research and I said, “This is a crazy cacophony.” students for cheating. changed it. But that was the memory people had. technology at a pharmaceutical company based The profession had come off of what was My philosophy was always that we’re going Lo and behold, in groups of ones and twos, the in New Jersey. I was there for 16 years and on a relatively rare downturn, in which it had to do what we think is right. If we lose an alumni started to turn around and say, “You know the board of directors, so life was good. become more difficult to interest students in occasional case in the courts, at least we hold what? We think you deserve a second chance.” But I had a yearning to end my career in dental careers. The quality of the applicant pool our heads high. That played a very important part in our be- academics, where I’d begun. Then NYU called. nationwide was slipping. And there were huge Because people who cheat on exams or who ing able to rehabilitate the physical structure, I was being recruited for dean of the dental economic stresses. The accreditation folks were cheat on patient charts are going to be poor which had fallen into disrepair. But it was also school, which was very large and had a reputa- ratcheting up standards, which put financial dentists. They may do procedures on patients useful in recruiting very talented faculty and tion for being difficult to manage. When I got pressures on the institution in terms of facul- that the patients don’t really need or select building labs for them. A fine group of faculty the interview schedule, I was surprised to see ty-student ratios and quality of the equipment one procedure over another simply because it decided together that the dental college would that there were nine people to meet that in the clinics. generates more revenue for the office. And we get much better. day, right up to and including the president, NYU’s answer was to get big and launch in a just didn’t want people like that populating The numbers are compelling—from 43rd to Jay Oliva. major way a program to train international den- our profession. third in research. From 40 percent first-time What happened at that interview was very tists for licensure in the United States. But many The good news is that the faculty immedi- board failure rate to zero percent. And that’s compelling. Each person I met in the University of the alums were alienated. They thought the ately got behind it and the students quickly in the largest dental school in the country, leadership impressed me in ways that made me school had gotten too big too fast. learned that we were a generous, kind place— second-largest dental school in the world. Nor- want to join them. There was a camaraderie, a Coming from the corporate world, I saw size but a no-nonsense place. mally, you’d never expect that was possible. can-do attitude, a serious-minded commitment as a huge advantage. It was a matter of harvest- You never use the word “eliminate.” I would Great people made it happen. I feel very good to make NYU a better place. ing the size to be able to improve the quality of say we dramatically reduced the problem. about that. 1998 I had a wonderful lunch with Jay, and he opportunities for students. He wanted student The time to get off any board of directors is never asked me for any money. So I said, “Jay, club space, he wanted entertainment space. when you stay too long or you can no longer why did you ask me to have lunch with you?” He wanted at least three times as many accomplish. If Larry could not accomplish, he He said, “Because I like you, and I wanted to things as could fit into the building. 4)::A<1;+0 would have left the board. But our feeling of get to know you better.” giving back, of doing something positive, was I said, “That’s nice, but you didn’t want BOB BERNE: The pivot point between John so reinforced by the process and the results that anything?” Brademas and Jay is the Kimmel Center, which, A RELUCTANT it was heady stuff—to be able to make so many He said, “No.” along with Bobst, established a focal point for meaningful, innovative, creative changes. So I said, “Well, Jay, if you did want some- the campus that to this day is a critical part of HONOREE 2003 thing, what would it be?” student life. LARRY TISCH: You can’t just devote your time He said it was his aim to have a proper center to making money. When you’re involved with for student life. We had a small one that was in JAY OLIVA: Kimmel was for me and still is the something that’s doing well and getting better Larry Tisch. A HOME bad shape. sign of the great change. When they first every year, every day, that gives you a certain This is how we got into the Kimmel Center. opened it, they thought nobody was going to satisfaction. I enjoyed every minute of it. use it. Now you can’t get into the elevator. on the GREG ALBANIS: I remember doing an accept- BOB GLICKMAN: He had enormous amounts of SQUARE ed-student reception at Loeb Student Center. HELEN KIMMEL: Marty and I were at every experience—and he would always inject the We were inviting students to spend their four meeting with the architect. One of the things reality factor into our discussions. years here. It had poured the night before—and we focused on particularly was having enough KIMMEL CENTER Loeb leaked like a sieve. bathrooms. NAOMI LEVINE: Larry was very economical, in his We had 300 people in the auditorium. As At every meeting, we said to the architect, personal life and for the University. He never FOR UNIVERSITY LIFE the dean of the college spoke, tiles were falling “Kevin [Roche], we don’t have enough bath- liked to spend money. from the ceiling and hitting the ground like rooms.” When we were on one of our trips in Italy, wet diapers. We had to put out potted palms to He would come with additional bathrooms he said, “Why go to this expensive restaurant? 135 catch the water. and say, “Now are you satisfied?” and we’d say, We’ll get tomatoes, we’ll get cheese, we’ll have 134 Thank God when Kimmel came. “No.” a picnic.” RUSS HAMBERGER: Jay is fundamentally a So the Kimmel Center probably has more So we had this picnic near a railroad track on a teacher, which means that he loves the inter- RICH STANLEY: We looked at a number of other bathrooms than any other building of its size in bumpy road somewhere in a dusty place in Italy, action with students. That was his primary locations. But it really only made sense to the city—or the country. which indicates his approach to elegant dining. focus for as long as I’ve known him. have a student center pretty close to the center It turned out so beautifully. Somebody said But that was Larry. He never had a car and Jay was concerned with making NYU a total of campus. to me, “Just wait until the students get a hold driver. Billie used to come at night to drive him experience, in the classroom and whatever they Loeb was a complicated job because it had of this. In a year’s time, it’s going to be a mess.” HELEN BOB LEONARD STERN: Let me tell you about my home to Westchester. did outside of the classroom. He was a deter- to be taken down piece by piece. You couldn’t But that didn’t happen. The students have KIMMEL GLICKMAN feelings for Larry Tisch. He’s the only person mining factor in what we did in athletics and in just swing a wrecking ball there—it would have been wonderful. Member of the Dean of the School I’ve ever gone to for business advice. And I went BILLIE TISCH: Larry felt that he had the psychic NYU Board of of Medicine expanding the recreation program. knocked down Bobst and everything else. So Trustees since and CEO of NYU to him not infrequently. I thought he was an rewards that came from doing what he did. And But he also wanted activities in residence they dismantled that thing using blow torches. In September 2003, the Skirball Center 1993; member of Langone Medical incredible leader. He had this ability to take that no further thanks were necessary. He was a halls. He wanted to provide services for stu- They had to dig a big hole, which filled up for the Performing Arts opened in the Kim- the NYU Langone Center from the most complex issue, after listening to it reluctant honoree. Medical Center 1998–2007; Pro- dents, whether it was the health service or with water a couple times because Minetta mel Center, serving NYU and the down- Board of Trustees fessor of Medicine intently, and boil it down. He was leaving NYU a better place. The prog- placement, a lot of which had been cut back in Creek runs through there. town community. Theater was a particular since 1984 and Gastroenterol- He was prepared to make decisions. Every- ress was palpable. Everybody in the city knew the ’70s. Jay felt we needed a bigger and better There were a lot of problems. That was the passion of Jay Oliva, who believed that, ogy since 1998 body liked working for him. When he spoke, it. The academic community, not only here but student center, with more facilities for student building that brought back for the Village com- “like travel, theater gives young adults we all would listen, not from fear but out of throughout the country, knew it as well. clubs and another theater. munity the memory of Bobst more than any- the tools to understand the world in a very enormous respect. It was a team effort, and there were many thing else in the construction history of NYU. direct and almost always new way.” A lot of the transition from the university people involved in making that happen. Larry HELEN KIMMEL: Jay Oliva had asked me to join It was also a complicated project because Jay NYU was to the university it is today is pivoted had the happy circumstance of being the lay the board in 1993. Not too long after that, he had such enormous visions for what he wanted around Larry’s 30 years of involvement here. leader for a long time. But he had a wonderful asked me to have lunch with him. a student center to be. He wanted it to have din- And I was witness to it. This university was board, people he could depend on. And he had Marty [her husband] said to me, “Boy, that’s ing facilities, he wanted it to have lots of lounge blessed, and, frankly, I was blessed to have been wonderful presidents who served during his going to cost you.” able to work with him. tenure—and there were a lot of them. LARRY TISCH: The University has made tremen- SYLVIA BARUCH: As president, Jay brought a 1988. A few months later, John became dean, dous progress. Fortunately for me, I was there lot of qualities, but if I had to pick the most and we began to work together. during this golden age of growth. important, it’s a love of the place. He grew up It wasn’t very long before I said to myself, here. He loved it. He still loves it with all his be- “This guy is just fabulous. One of these days, ALLEN CLAXTON: Larry Tisch was very, very active ing. And the love permeated everything he did. he’ll run the University.” Jay Oliva as a in terms of our finances, but in the broadest junior professor at Jay knew everybody and he knew everything. sense. Not nitpicking this and that. But in the the Heights. Because he came from our faculty, he was very BOB BERNE: We’ve benefited enormously from bottom line, in our strategy for investments, alert to and sympathetic to faculty. To him, it having the right leader at the right time. We in the endowment. Much as you’d prepare, at was family. And I think people could feel it. were almost bankrupt in 1973, and we hired trustee meetings, like clockwork, he would He was also very involved with students. He John Sawhill, who was a manager. He came come with an excellent question, something was certainly the first president in my experi- from McKinsey and began to implement certain you’d never thought about. ence who really brought the students into the management reforms at the University. Larry had a reputation for strong views. heart of the University. He knew what they He was followed by John Brademas. John He was outspoken about the kinds of things were doing. He cared about them. was an ambassador, a successful, multiterm he felt were important. But one of his strengths congressman with a doctorate from Oxford. was that he would say his strong views—and HARVEY HARVEY STEDMAN: It’s very hard to do something He felt that if NYU was going to hire him as then he would listen. STEDMAN from scratch, but it’s almost more difficult president, NYU must be pretty good—because Vice Chancellor to reinvent something. Jay was the great he was pretty good. from 2001–03; MARIE SCHWARTZ: Whatever Larry wanted, Provost from sculptor-reinventor of NYU academically. He So he began to project the University as a people wanted to help him. 1998–2002; Vice is the person who energized a whole group of place that was much better than it was. And President and then deans, faculty, and others to move ourselves by sheer dint of his stature in the world and by Senior Vice Presi- LARRY SILVERSTEIN: Larry was chairman for dent for Planning up in the academic pecking order. having Jay as the number two person and build- 20 years. There came a time in the late ’90s from 1990–98; In the early ’80s, NYU did not have overlap into ing the academics, he began to grow NYU out 136 when he decided it was time to retire. And the Dean of the School a lot of the top schools. I remember the day when of its financial problems while also projecting 137 of Professional board chose Marty Lipton as its new chair. Studies from Jay came rushing in and said, “You’ll never guess it into a more global university. 1982–90 what happened.” The daughter of a person of Jay was the builder. He built a lot of dorms. LARRY TISCH: I thought 20 years was enough. influence in this community had been admitted He built a lot of academic space. He picked And I thought Marty would be a good successor. to Penn—and waitlisted at NYU. It was one of the good deans and gave them a lot of freedom happiest days of his academic career. to operate. Jay shaped it from the center in MARTY LIPTON: Larry was fond of saying, Parts of the arts and sciences were A+ ways that set the tone of NYU as continuing in “I didn’t feel I had served too long or I was long before Jay was president. But he was an Brademas’s tradition as a national institution, getting too old. I was just getting worried that arts-and-sciences president. No one should but providing spaces for students to live and Marty was getting too old to succeed me.” miscalculate the role of Jay Oliva in that become a university. Jay really began a lot of the transformation. study abroad initiatives that John has success- And to do it with almost no money, to make a fully built on. lot happen without much: That’s what Jay did. Jay knew the place better than anyone else. If you see where the faculty who joined us He could almost uncannily predict, in a politi- in the last years of the Oliva presidency came cal sense, if we did X then Y would happen. He from, it would knock your socks off. was able to put together a series of investments, strengthening the professional schools while MARTY LIPTON: It was clear that Jay Oliva would continuing to strengthen the core of the Uni- have been president for 10 years, so that maybe versity, building some of the science initiatives. the most significant thing in my role as chair You go from the manager to the ambassador would be the transition of the presidency of to the builder—and John is the visionary. John is the University. the person who has really looked forward, who I had known John Sexton casually as a took all the things that Jay and John Brademas professor at the law school. I succeeded Judge did in the previous 20 years and started to proj- Weinfeld as chair of the law school in February ect NYU into a truly first-rate, global university. 138 139 911 On Tuesday, September 11, 2001, four passenger airliners were hijacked by the 140 militant Islamist terrorist group al-Qae- 141 da to be flown into buildings in suicide attacks. Two planes, American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175, crashed into the North and South towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. Within two hours, both towers collapsed.

A third plane, American Airlines Flight 77, crashed into the Pentagon. The fourth, United Airlines Flight 93, was aimed at Washington, DC, but crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after its passengers collectively took on the hijackers.

Almost 3,000 people were killed, includ- ing 343 firefighters—the deadliest inci- dent for firefighters in the history of the United States.

New York University was about a mile and a half from Ground Zero, with over 2,000 A candlelight vigil in front of students living in dorms in Lower Manhat- the Washington tan, some within sight of the Twin Towers. Square Arch. JOHN BECKMAN: 9/11 used to mean something different to me. It’s actually my birthday, and WHERE I was in a good mood. It was a really beautiful HARVEY STEDMAN: Jay Oliva and I began to talk, day in New York, cool and crisp, the kind of day because he was in charge and I was, in a way, I associated with fall. his second banana. Although we had lots of I ran into Sally Arthur on the street. WERE second bananas, as we always do. And so it began to unfold, the “how do we SALLY ARTHUR: I was standing with John manage this?” Beyond just the horror of it all, Beckman in front of the Campus Eatery. That in a national way and in a local way—the sirens, American Airlines plane went over our heads, YOU? the smoke, the screaming out on the streets— and we both said, “This is too low.” little bugs gets larger and larger and turned out this is a hugely consequential event for us at NYU. My phone rang about five minutes later. to be the plane that crashed in coming from The plane had gone into the World Trade the south. The second building. Before coming to NYU in 1997, Jules Martin Center. I said, “We’ve got to call Lynne Brown Everybody was in total disbelief at the first. served nearly 30 years in the New York City right away.” When the second happened, someone yelled, Police Department. It was before 9, and I sent my staff out on “Terrorists!” the streets to see what happened. Bob Kivetz— It was a magnificent day. I had jogged that Now a common word in our vocabulary, JULES MARTIN: I was on the telephone with he was the head of Housing—and I met Jules morning and remarked to myself how clear regrettably. It became clear that something a vendor in England. We were talking about Martin in his office, because he was the person it was. really unprecedentedly awful was happening. installing passenger counters on our transpor- who would know what to do. Andy, Harvey, and I stayed on the roof, tation vehicles—to count how many passengers talking about what could have happened. Then JOHN JOHN BECKMAN: Years ago, I used to work as we carry. I heard a faint noise, but nothing BOB KIVETZ: I was in my office at 8 Washington we see the second plane. It did kind of a loop BECKMAN a firefighter and an ambulance medic. I that would alarm a New Yorker. I stayed on the Place when one of my staff members came in, Director, Assistant 142 around and hit the World Trade Center. Vice President, thought to myself, “There are going to be a phone, but noticed people outside here [corner visibly shaken and white. You could actually 143 I remember saying to myself, “This is going to and then Vice lot of injuries. They’re going to need blood.” of Mercer Street and Washington Place] starting see the World Trade Center from the corner of change how my kids live.” President for So I called Bob Berne and I said, “I’d like to to kind of rush west. Washington Place and Mercer, and he had just LYNNE BROWN: Public Affairs I was on the 12th floor of Bobst, Our kids were going to be in a different since 1996 organize a blood drive right away.” It still did not alarm me until I got a phone seen the first plane crash. close to Jay Oliva’s office. It was primary day in world, assuming it was what I thought it was— And he said, “Do it.” call to tell me that there was a plane that ran When I walked outside I could see the plane New York, and I tend to vote early. So I got into an act of terrorism. into the World Trade Center. I, like other New in the tower, burning. I went back in my office the office before the first plane hit. BOB BERNE: As soon as the second plane hit, we Yorkers who did not see it, thought that it and called Jules. When we heard the boom of People were going up and down to get on the HARVEY STEDMAN: Like all of us, I can remember went down and joined Lynne and others in try- was just a small plane that might have lost its the second plane hitting, right then and there JULES roof of Bobst. You couldn’t see too much except this as if it were yesterday. Somebody knocked MARTIN ing to figure out exactly what needed to be done. way. I stayed on the phone for a few minutes, we knew it wasn’t an accident. the hole in the building. But you still recorded at the door and said, “A plane has crashed into LYNNE Vice President for and by then the second plane had hit. This is it as a small-plane accident. There was no way the World Trade Center.” BROWN Global Security RICH STANLEY: I never really had a chance to when I looked at the crowd of people again and JOHN BECKMAN: Just after that, the TV signal Vice President and Crisis to get a sense of the scale from up on the roof. I remember, although not personally, these and then Senior Management focus much on what was going on because we thought something had gone awfully wrong. I went dead. I remember having a staff meeting, images of that little plane that ran into the Vice President since 2008; Vice just slipped into crisis management mode. The disengaged the call—never called him back, by calling everybody together and saying, “A lot of BOB BERNE: Every two or three weeks, Harvey, Empire State Building a long time ago. So for University President for telephones weren’t working, and so four or five the way. people are going to be looking to us today for Relations and Public Safety from Andy Schaffer, and I met in Andy’s office at 8:30. instantaneously I imagined those big buildings Public Affairs since 2003–08; Director people were designated to become runners. “Go We had an emergency operations center at leadership. So we’ve got to keep it together, see The office was almost like a bunker. It was in- with a little tail sticking out of one. I thought, 2000; Associate of Protection find out what’s going on there and then come the Weinstein Learning Center. Even before I what we need to do on behalf of the University. side, with a window that was covered with his Oh my God. Vice President Services from back and tell me since I can’t call them and walked outside to look for myself, I activated We’ve got to think about the many people we’re for Government 1997–2003 files and books. And so we heard nothing of the We zipped up the back way onto the roof. As and Community ask them.” the center. It remained open until 9/17, and I going to have to communicate with.” first plane, which apparently went within a cou- we were getting up there, you could hear com- Relations from stayed there the bulk of that time without going ple of thousand feet over Washington Square. motion. I walked out. And we looked downtown. 1995–2000; LYNNE BROWN: The third piece of news was the home—that’s just the nature of the business. BOB KIVETZ: We’d always had a plan to mobilize Director of Then we were told that a plane hit the World There was that horrific scene. With that Government Pentagon. When that news came in from Wash- After I ran to the roof of Bobst Library and a command center at Weinstein. Meanwhile, Trade Center. gaping hole. We stood there totally flummoxed Relations from ington, you could see everyone just clicked into looked to the south, I realized, without ques- Jules and I and Sally Arthur, who was my coun- So we went up to the roof. It was a pretty big by what was happening. There were all these 1991–95; “We are under assault.” It went from accident tion, that something really bad had happened. terpart in Student Affairs, met in Jules’s office. Assistant to the hole. But you think: Somebody from Teterboro little what-looked-like bugs flying around—heli- President from to “What the hell is going on?” to “This is a We started hearing the news reports and knew lost track of where they were. copters from the police. And then one of those 1982–91 systemic attack.” we had to carry our plan forward. dorms at 200 Water Street, 25 Broad Street, 15 Cliff Street. We had Lafayette. We didn’t really know what was going on, so we gave the order to evacuate all the buildings. It was after 9. Some students had already gone to class. But we sent residence hall staff around to tell people to evacuate and to come EMERGENCY up to the Square. We set up a student shelter at Coles gym. We had wrestling mats put on the floor. We were just preparing to make sure we JULES MARTIN: We had chosen several locations The communication set-up in Weinstein could handle the influx. in case of an emergency. One was the presi- turned out to be crucial, because we lost Lower Manhattan was still open to traffic, dent’s conference room on the 12th floor of phones, and even cell phones. and the subway was still running. Within the Bobst, the other was the Weinstein Learning So it was Jules staying in contact as best he hour, we had the command center up at Wein- Center, and the third was further north, in case could, getting information about what was stein. I know that because I walked over there something happened in the center of campus— going on. and saw on the TV the towers come down. on the third floor of Palladium Hall. In the That’s when everything broke loose. event that there is an emergency, those rooms BOB BERNE: We had benefited to some degree all have fax, phones, so we can keep in business. from the absurdity of Y2K. Y2K turned out to be LYNNE BROWN: The park became a gathering The Learning Center at Weinstein was uniq- a nonevent worldwide. Cameras on New Year’s spot. You got a straight view downtown from uely positioned, at the corner of University Eve went around the world, following all the COL APSE Washington Square Park. When the buildings Place and Washington Square North. We had cities. Nothing happening. collapsed, I can remember hearing something tested it for the millennium [Y2K—the mistaken But as a result, we had developed a command I had never heard, hundreds of people in a 144 fear of massive computer failure at the start of center, a way to bring people together and collective gasp. 145 this new year when 2000 would be mistaken for to think about what would happen if all the 1900]. We knew it worked. We had designated power shut off— BOB BERNE: It was Lynne and I, Jules Martin, BOB BERNE: There was a brief time between the rooms for IT, Student Affairs, Public Affairs, John Beckman, Bob Kivetz, and Rich Stanley. two planes hitting—maybe an hour, hour and a Public Safety so that we could coordinate our LYNNE BROWN: If computers didn’t work— That was the core group, with Harvey Stedman. half—until the buildings themselves collapsed. efforts. All significant players of the University We were figuring out exactly where the imme- were right there. The idea was that as more in- BOB BERNE: If there was no water supply, a diate vulnerabilities were. JOHN BECKMAN: Again from the crowd in the formation came in, one message could go out. whole range of things. I won’t say we had park, this terrible, mournful, sepulchral moan rehearsed, but we had gone through a drill that JOHN BECKMAN: Some of us were having a debate up from the street. BOB BERNE: Jules had good communications allowed us to set up communications in that about whether or not we should order an evac- with his people in the building. He really knew room. uation of the residence halls downtown. We HARVEY STEDMAN: All of the horror now how to organize things— were standing in Jay’s outer office, where the becomes disbelief. I felt this really could be LYNNE BROWN: So we decided, “Let’s go to assistants sit, and we’re going back and forth. the beginning of the end of the world. LYNNE BROWN: —in vital ways, to the police and the space.” Andy Schaffer cut it off and pulled us into other authorities, giving us as accurate infor- My memory was it was almost a self-selecting the office. He said, “People are very anxious BOB BERNE: After the buildings collapsed, the mation as he got, and giving us a channel back group. Those who thought that within their today. There’s a lot of fear. They don’t know smell and the smoke started to drift uptown. to talk if we needed to. portfolio there were things that needed to be what’s going on. We cannot afford to be seen We’re about two kilometers, a little over a mile done walked over to Weinstein and started arguing among ourselves. We have to make our and a half from the World Trade Center straight doing things. decisions and then come out with them and down. The smoke was pretty heavy. seem very certain.” As the smoke settled and as more news of the It was a good lesson in leadership. I’ve always Pentagon and the plane in Pennsylvania came remembered that. through, and the fact that all the planes were out of the air by some time that afternoon, we BOB KIVETZ: We had over 2,000 students in the had some sense that we knew what we had to general area [of Lower Manhattan]. We had deal with. LYNNE BROWN: Very quickly, Bob Kivetz was making arrangements with hotels. One advan- tage was a lot of people weren’t coming into the city. And because of Bob’s longstanding REACHING OUT TO PARENTS BOB BERNE: I tried to find out if there were relationships with hotels, which we’ve often students who may need some counseling. needed to handle overflow of student housing, They were close enough to see bodies falling he immediately started getting rooms online JULES MARTIN: They walked up from 200 Water from the buildings and horrific sights that one that we could use as well. Street to the center of campus. Emotional, yes. would never want to see. So we mobilized coun- But out of control? No. seling as best we could in a chaotic situation. BOB KIVETZ: I remember calling one hotel chain LYNNE BROWN: The first thing was the triage of, LYNNE BROWN: I do remember saying, “Call your we did a lot of business with and saying, “I Was anybody hurt? Was anybody missing? parents. It’s better if it comes from you. It’s SALLY ARTHUR: 200 Water Street is two and a LYNNE BROWN: It was just an all-out effort. Bob want every single room you can give me.” We An indispensable member of the NYU team going to be hard for us to get the word out.” half blocks from the World Trade Center. You Kivetz was more operational, taking care of wanted students to be able to go back almost to during those days was John Beckman. Working Our reasoning was that nothing would better saw students queued in line trying to use the facilities and the dorms. He had all of what I business as usual. closely with Jules, John was monitoring devel- reassure parents than actually hearing their one Heartline telephone on the sidewalk. called the hardware of Student Affairs, and opments, taking in information in real time child’s voice. Sally had all the software. HARVEY STEDMAN: Because those buildings from all the sources he could, and then crafting LYNNE BROWN: We tried in as organized a way They kicked into operation, using the resident downtown were out of commission for a long, messages to share with our own community JOHN BECKMAN: Newspapers started calling in as we could to send Jules down with Student assistants and their whole staff to do outreach long time. and parents. and radios, because they knew we had dormi- Affairs people for the students who were still to the students and making sure that their move tories downtown. We were the major university in the dorms, to try to evacuate them in a more out of the affected dorms was going well. Stu- RICH STANLEY: I lived in Westchester County. I JOHN BECKMAN: We knew we had to let parents closest to the epicenter of all this. orderly way, because City Hall was putting that dents were constantly being monitored or asked, didn’t get home for four days. I was sleeping in know what was going on. As quickly as we I think that night we had Karen Arensen of EMOTIONAL, part of town in lockdown. “How are you doing? Do you need anything?” Bob Berne’s apartment. He had a spare couch. could, we did an assessment just trying to find the New York Times here. We took her on a tour But the students themselves came together, Most of the folks in the central administration 146 out whether or not we knew of any NYU faculty, of Coles after we got the students settled, show- BOB BERNE: The subways were shut down. helping each other. My memory is a constant, un- who didn’t live here didn’t go home. By the sec- 147 or staff, or students who had been harmed. ing her that we had everything squared away, YES. relenting focus on the students, their well-being, ond day, it was possible to get on a train and get As near as we could tell, the answer was that our students appeared to be in good shape. BOB KIVETZ: We told students to get up any way where are they, can we provide for them in any out. But there was just so much stuff to do that none, which was important news to get out. So That was important, because we knew people they could. Mostly walk, led by either RAs who physical, or mental, or spiritual way? you couldn’t really in any good conscience leave. that day was the start of info.alert, which has would be looking at the Times. Parents and were around or residence hall staff. We had a Both John Sexton and Jay Oliva were out and been the University’s way of conveying informa- families would see that the students were well manager or two in every single building or a about a lot, so that our leadership was seen and BOB KIVETZ: I think I got home Saturday. tion in emergencies ever since. taken care of. graduate assistant in the smaller ones. reseen. They left the operational aspects to this It was a very long day. It was the beginning of a semester, so you had SWAT team of us. In a sense, we were lucky we LYNNE BROWN: A significant number, a majority, all the moving around in residence halls trying had two presidents at that point so we could of NYU students come from outside New York LYNNE BROWN: John Beckman was orchestrating to make sure we knew where everybody was. deploy them both. City. Imagine these thousands of parents whose all of this, making sure everything worked. His sons and daughters attended NYU, watching words helped guide, calm, and set a general HARVEY STEDMAN: The mayor is a heroic figure BOB KIVETZ: We weren’t allowing anybody to go BUT the Twin Towers come down and having some tone we would maintain throughout those HARVEY STEDMAN: We’re a student residen- in this. The city, in an unbelievably coordinated back down there. No matter what they might’ve more or less vague sense: This is happening days: The city and NYU had just experienced tial community. We leased a lot of facilities way for an unbelievable thing, starts into action. left. So we tried to set up arrangements to make OUT OF near NYU, where my child may not only be a horrific act. But if we come together as a downtown just to accommodate the demand. And, of course, one of the things they did their lives as normal as possible. We had no seeing it but be endangered by it. community and take care of one another, we All these kids are just running for their lives. was: They drew a frozen line on what was more idea how long this was going to be. CONTROL? John and the team made outreach to parents will get through it. Here is what NYU is doing. They’re all coming up north, and they have or less 14th Street. our number one communications priority. Here is what you can do. Here is where you can nothing. They just were going wherever they That was the next level of complication. We find out more. were going that day. They had their purse, their couldn’t get in, we couldn’t get out. NO. BOB KIVETZ: It was the first time we’d done He worked around the clock, never flagging, wallet, and maybe a book. this online. and all in the fog of war, as they say. It was a SALLY ARTHUR: It was high alert. tremendous accomplishment. RICHARD BING: We had thousands of students in RICH STANLEY: I set up a phone bank so people the impact zone we had to pull out who didn’t could call their parents. We got that up and have anything but the clothes on their backs. running in less than 12 hours. AN THE TEAM EXTENDED HARVEY STEDMAN: One of the treasures of NYU is that this crowd is can-do people. All of a FAMILY sudden, a network of coordination begins to emerge, an improvisation. We’re great improvisational people at NYU.

LYNNE BROWN: As a team, we were checking our decisions all the time against each other.

LYNNE BROWN: Thankfully, we lost no students. JULES MARTIN: I had a security officer here BOB BERNE: At the beginning we met hourly. It But we did lose alums and a part-time employ- named James Patrick Leahy. He was a part-time BOB BERNE: The Medical Center was ready for was almost a continuous meeting. Then it went ee. And a very good friend of John Sexton. security officer here but a full-time police offi- large numbers of injured people, who never to every two hours. cer in the 6th Precinct, which covers this area. really came. A significant number of our Med- BOB BERNE: A son of a faculty member was On that day, he was working in the 6th ical Center folks went over to the West Side to BOB KIVETZ: Harvey and Lynne and Bob: killed. So it affected us. If you think of NYU as Precinct and he went down to the World Trade some of the piers that were used as respites for Those were the three critical people who an extended family, there were members of the Center. He did what any good cop would do—he people to get first aid. But there was a low level were instrumental in making decisions, in extended family who were in the Trade Center, was helping people out of the buildings. Last of injury relative to the calamity that occurred. consultation with Jay and John Sexton. 148 who were injured or died. time they heard from him, he was on the 29th 149 floor. He was helping someone down the stairs. LYNNE BROWN: I remember when there was the TO: The University Community FROM: Harvey J. Stedman, Provost and Vice JOHN BECKMAN: It took me three or four trains We had other members who lost daughters, crushing insight that we didn’t really have to Chancellor to get home to the Upper West Side that night. wives. It was a horrific experience. go into triage up at the Medical Center. RE: News Alert It was after 11:00, close to midnight. I was DATE: September 11, 2001, 5:25 PM watching the first summary press conference HARVEY STEDMAN: Nearly all of us in New York Nurse practitioner Judith Haber, at the with the mayor, and he announced that Bill had acquaintances—business, personal—who time an associate dean at NYU’s College The New York University community grieves Feehan, who was the first deputy commissioner were potentially down there. For a lot of us, it of Nursing, was in New York City on 9/11. for the dreadful terrorist attack on our city; of the fire department and a guy I considered a involved people who were close to us. One wom- Haber recalls that the University sent ev- our hearts and thoughts are with those who friend and very much admired, had been killed. an was weeping uncontrollably because her ery available health care provider—includ- have been victims of this terrorism. I went to the phone and called another city mother worked in that building and she didn’t ing students and faculty—to NYU Medical No University facility has been damaged by commissioner I knew, and I said, “Could this know what was happening. Center to treat the victims of the World the attack on the World Trade Center, and we do not believe at this point that any NYU really be the case?” So it moves from the logistics to the anguish Trade Center attacks. students, faculty or staff have been injured. He said he was down there, and a lot of the of it all. Effective immediately, all classes are can- leadership had been killed. JUDITH HABER: We were showering them, giving JUDITH celled for today, Tuesday, September 11, HABER out clean clothes, washing their eyes, helping 2001…. Associate Dean them connect with their families. But by 2 p.m., for Graduate they stopped coming. There was not even a Programs at the College of Nursing trickle. They just stopped. since 2005; Pro- fessor of Nursing since 1998; PhD, Nursing, 1984; MA, Nursing, 1967 MONEY BOB BERNE: Coles became a safe haven in the neighborhood for police, for first responders. All sorts of people used it as a way to shower, or LYNNE BROWN: It was a series of realizations and to clean up, or to get some water. It really was quick determinations that I don’t remember quite important. anybody second-guessing. This was what we We figured we needed to house a lot of should do immediately, which was clothing ¹?0-:-?7=4,<0-A people. And we encouraged people to— BOB BERNE: Bob Kivetz arranged for the food. allowance, money, bookstore kept open so that ? they could replace their books, free computers. LYNNE BROWN: —bunk up together. It was an in- LYNNE BROWN: Through our regular food We even brought in brand-new bedding if stu- ;4--8 vitation to students to say, If you’ve got friends, service people. dents had to be bunking with someone else. and you know they’re coming up from these º places downtown, there’s not going to be an BOB BERNE: But they said, “We can deliver the SALLY ARTHUR: We spent over $25 million in the issue of guest policy: Bring them in. food to the other side of the Lincoln Tunnel, weeks after, from emptying their clothes out of FOOD but we can’t get it through.” Water Street to counseling to letting interna- BOB BERNE: People really stepped up. Everyone It was Jules, again, working his magic. It may tional students talk on the phone as long as in the University community: If they could be a bit apocryphal, but the story goes that they wanted to their families to students who provide help, they provided it. And if they we were the first truck through the Lincoln took in other students in their homes and were needed help, they tended to know where to go. Tunnel. As soon as they opened it, Jules had the so generous. ' It was people really, really suspending anything truck there waiting to bring the food to NYU. parochial and personal and just trying to do BOB KIVETZ: We brought in cleaners to clean the right thing. BOB KIVETZ: It was all Jules, because of his the rooms. We had people wash all the clothes. HARVEY STEDMAN: Next, where would they It was an unusual moment. The pronoun “I” knowledge and the relationships he had built Sometimes it wasn’t the best idea—someone sleep? So that day we bought a bunch of cots. I was stripped from the vocabulary, and it was up within the city. He knew all the right people washed a cashmere sweater in hot water and 150 don’t even want to know how we bought these you or we. in the police department and city government. dried it afterwards. 151 cots, where we got these cots. The city was ? We got some complaints. But we were able to frozen, but some big truck gets through and is JULES MARTIN: The true heroes of the Universi- RICH STANLEY: It was only because of his connec- get students back in about three or four weeks over there unloading hundreds of cots. ty—that day and the following day—were the tions with the police department that we were after the cleaning. But very few people ended up staying there students. I do not say that in a patronizing able to keep the dining halls open for those first [at Coles]. And why is that? Because NYU and way. They managed themselves so well they did BOB BERNE: The next major thing we started to couple of nights. SALLY ARTHUR: Kids came out from downtown RICH STANLEY: Finding the resources to pay for New York are a series of interlocking commu- not create another overarching issue for us. think about was food. Here we were actually in their flip flops and shorts. It was a very hot them. Or making sure that nobody worried nities. The best of New York came out. These They knew the gravity of what happened. Sure, expanding the University community, because JULES MARTIN: The police had set up these day, no ID card, no money. And so we gave every about finding the resources to pay for them. young people whose parents wanted them to people cried. They could not get in contact with commuters couldn’t go home and people were “frozen zones”—a series of them as you got kid downtown $200 to either go home or buy That was the key element. “I don’t care if it’s get out of here? They didn’t want to leave. This their significant others because the wireless coming from other dorms, wanting a place closer to Ground Zero. We managed, through clothes or to use as they wanted to. in the budget. I don’t care how much exactly it was their place that they wanted to take care of. was challenged. But they managed. where they had friends and other people to go our partnership with them, to get resources costs. You’ve got to do it.” As horrible and mixed up and spooky and scary through this with. And, of course, the city shut across frozen zones, across bridges, to bring HARVEY STEDMAN: Just to have money to get as it was, they were not leaving their place. HARVEY STEDMAN: My wife and I lived in Silver down all the bridges, all the tunnels. Transpor- in food every day. We were able to receive all something to eat and whatever else they need, RICHARD BING: People forget: We are in loco There were a few hundred who used these Towers in those days. At night, when we would tation was very, very difficult. We realized that basic necessities because we had developed this because they need money just to survive for a parentis. We spent a lot of money—millions of cots, so it wasn’t a complete mistake. But there look out our windows in all the preceding in about 24 hours, we weren’t going to have any relationship with the first responders and the few days. dollars—just to provide a kind of safety net. weren’t very many people, because they all years, there would be all those lights. All of a food left. uniformed presence. So a few days later, guess where the biggest found friends who were so welcoming. sudden, they went away. lines were? At the bookstore. This is the won- JOHN BECKMAN: Parents had placed their trust To defend my purchase of several hundred LYNNE BROWN: We were the size of a small town RICH STANLEY: To me it was a demonstration derful undergraduate NYU student community. in us to educate and take care of their kids, and cots—because somebody actually has to sign the at this point. You’re talking tens of thousands that NYU had figured out how to deal with New They’re just driven. Wonderfully driven. so we did. It was NYU living its values at its best. piece of paper—eventually all of the emergency of people. York—and had a team of people who were really personnel that came in from around the coun- devoted to the institution and to each other. try, the world, were here, and the authorities BOB BERNE: A lot of meals. were a little short of space. They found out we had cots. And so they actually got used a lot by LYNNE BROWN: So we started thinking to the emergency personnel. inventory en masse what did we have. MONITORING THE STUDENTS THE STEP UP TO: The University Community FROM:7KH2I¿FHRIWKH3URYRVW RE: The Consequences of the Terrorist Attack September 13, 2001 DATE: September 11, 2001, 9:21 PM BACK TO Dear Parent: …All classes and events were cancelled today; AIR …We know how anxious many of you must be consistent with Mayor Giuliani’s expressed CLASS to have your children so far from home in these There was pushback from the city, because circumstances. You can be proud of the way your concerns at his 6:00 pm press conference they were afraid to be giving out too many that those who can stay home should do sons and daughters have responded to this tragedy. JOHN SEXTON: On Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, mixed messages: “This is open, this is closed.” 7RFLWHEXWDIHZLQVWDQFHVIURPWKH¿UVWPRPHQWV so and that activities below 14th Street JULES MARTIN: We changed in our prepared- SALLY ARTHUR: Air quality was monitored Saturday: Each morning, I got to the law school But I think we did prevail on them by Friday. students and faculty from our Nursing Division be curtailed—classes will also be cancelled proceeded to area hospitals and emergency centers tomorrow, Wednesday, September 12. ness, but also in our deployment. Where you constantly. That was something parents were at 7:30. I stood on the front steps and greeted We took some internal criticism for doing to help care for casualties; students proceeded in had one officer, you now had two. We wanted really worried about. each person as he or she came into the building it. But our view was, “Look, Friday’s not going droves to local hospitals to donate blood; students organized a clothing drive to furnish emergency TO: The University Community to establish to the community that this place, to see if they were okay. I would stay until to be a real day, no matter what you do. But at BOB BERNE: workers with clean clothes; students and faculty FROM: President L. Jay Oliva and Greenwich Village, is safe. We also wanted to There were all sorts of environmen- 10 or 11—just so that people knew we were a least we’re nominally open. We get people back from our counseling and psychology programs President-Elect John Sexton make sure we had visibility—that we had repre- tal issues because of the dust and the smoke. community. into some sort of rhythm so that Monday we have been in contact with the City public schools; RE: The Terrorist Attack on Our City sentatives of safety here. That was so important And a lot of discussion, churn, turmoil around really could open.” faculty and students from our School of Social DATE: September 11, 2001, 10:49 PM Work have volunteered as counselors to work with during 9/11. the cleanup. How would you know when you FROM: 7KH2I¿FHRIWKH3URYRVW What good was it letting people just sit the families of the missing; and Gallatin School That night, we wanted to allay everyone’s could go back into a dorm? How could you RE: Update on classes at NYU around, watching news reports endlessly from students have started a fundraising campaign for 152 «7KHUHPD\EHGLI¿FXOWGD\VDKHDG:HDUH fears as dark covered us. When you walked test it? DATE: September 12, 2001, 10:22 PM Tuesday on? So by Friday we were saying we the Red Cross. 153 a close-knit community, and we should rely NYU calls itself a “Private University in the Pub- along Mercer, Broadway, West Fourth, you saw were open. on one another. We should not be afraid to The Mayor has once again requested that all lic Service,” and the actions of our students have some sort of presence. LYNNE BROWN: Then the health issues started put this motto into practice. We are all doing what turn to one another for help, and we should activities in Manhattan below 14th Street be looming citywide. We were just part of that HARVEY STEDMAN: To this day, there’s a divided learning communities do in the face of circum- be quick to offer it to one another. curtailed tomorrow, Thursday, September 13. stances like these: we are turning to one another… It is hard to capture this tragedy—this In those early days, no one knew if 9/11 general conversation of if and when and what Accordingly, the University will suspend class- opinion about whether we started up too late or WU\LQJWR¿QGOHVVRQVFRPSUHKHQVLRQDQGWUXWKLQ crime—in words, but we will say this: if New was only the first in a series of possible at- level of cleanup needed to be done and who es tomorrow.... too soon. There was, again, improvisation. The the seemingly senseless events that have transpired. York City is known for anything, it is known for tacks. Were the subways vulnerable? Would signed off on it. The attack on the World Trade Center has city was essentially marooned. Lots of our staff Sincerely, its determination, its courage, and endurance. terrorists strike in another unforeseen way? been a transforming event for everyone: for this don’t live here. They live in the outer boroughs L. Jay Oliva We share more than a name with this city—we Mayor Rudolph Giuliani was at the helm. city, for this nation, and for the entire world. or other places. So there were days when they share its characteristics and its virtues. Although classes are cancelled, I would encour- couldn’t get here. ³7RGD\LVREYLRXVO\RQHRIWKHPRVWGLI¿FXOWGD\V DJHVWXGHQWVIDFXOW\DQGVWDIIWR¿QGZD\VWR But more rapidly than I would have thought, JOHN SEXTON: There was a student from Atlanta in the history of the city,” he said softly. “The trag- come together and share their thoughts and edy that we are undergoing right now is something NYU academically began to return to a more who had never been outside of Georgia before that we’ve had nightmares about…. And our focus their concerns about this tragedy. customary pattern. Nothing was normal after he got on the plane to come to New York. He now has to be to save as many lives as possible.” that day. But classes began to happen. The was at one of the vigils in the park. It was like Inevitably the question arose: How many lost? The mayor looked up through his glasses, aware BOB BERNE: At the University, it was pretty calm librarians were trying to figure out how to be a Quaker prayer vigil. People would talk as that among the viewers of this live broadcast were Wednesday. And Thursday, we started to think open extra hours and all night. they wished. the mothers, fathers, spouses, lovers and children that the best thing for the community would be And he said, “I was extremely nervous when I of those who labored in the smashed towers. “The number of casualties,” he said, “will be to get back to whatever normal was going to be. SALLY ARTHUR: It was the start of school, so got on that plane to come here, because I didn’t more than any of us can bear ultimately.” So we were ready to have classes on Friday. they weren’t deep into exams. But it was a know if I belonged.” sensitive semester. Then he said, “While I was sitting on the –SEPTEMBER 21, 2007: THE NEW YORK TIMES LYNNE BROWN: We even pressed for Thursday. We had faculty lectures at night that were fountain rim at this vigil, my eyes alighted on The city had closed all the public schools south very well attended by students on topics such the phrase from George Washington on the of 14th. And they wanted a lockdown on it all. as “What is Islam?” So there were a lot of arch. ‘Let us erect a banner to which the brave We said, “Would you make an exception? We’re educational moments, as well as comforting and virtuous will repair.’ And I realized: This is not a K through 12.” moments. Both were needed. exactly where I should be.” KHALID THE OBLIGATIONS OF LATIF LYNNE BROWN: This is what Student Affairs does University Chap- day in, day out. Whether it was convening focus lain (Imam) since 2005; Executive groups, or student leaders, this is what Sally Director of the and her team do so well: staying in touch, Islamic Center TOLERANCE since 2007; BA, listening, being very sensitive. Hall conversa- College of Arts and PARENTS WEEKEND tions and RAs’ convening groups. Science, 2004

Notwithstanding the sincerity of the lead- ership, the situation for some Muslims at DEBORAH BRODERICK: September starts the BOB BERNE: People really appreciated that the University was complex. heaviest recruitment period for communica- we were open for business, that we were tions, designed for those we hope will be part of explaining what we did, and how safe the  $V RXU JRYHUQPHQW GHYHORSV LQFUHDVLQJ KHALID LATIF: My two roommates at that time the next fall’s freshman class. On September 11, students were, how lucky we were in some HYLGHQFHWKDWWKHRULJLQVRIWKHWHUURULVWVRI were friends who were Hindu. They wouldn’t our art director was overseeing the printing of sense. They really appreciated— the plot, and of the supporting organization let me walk around by myself. There was a all the school viewbooks. OD\LQWKH0LGGOH(DVWZHKDYHFRPHWRKHDU young woman who lived in my building who That year’s design had right on page 1 what LYNNE BROWN: —that we could handle it. RI GLVKHDUWHQLQJ DQG GLVFRXUDJLQJ UHSRUWV actually tried to push me down the staircase. we considered to be our signature photograph— Jay and John were around all that weekend, IURP DURXQG WKH FRXQWU\ RI KDUDVVPHQW DQG It was a really, really tough situation. Classes started again. I went back to NYU the view down Fifth Avenue with the arch in greeting parents. It was an immediate YLROHQFH GLUHFWHG DJDLQVW WKRVH RI RU EH OLHYHG WR EH RI  0LGGOH (DVWHUQ GHVFHQW RU My parents were feeling it very hard because and I walked into my Arabic class and I saw the foreground and the Twin Towers rising exemplar to anybody who was here that we ZKRDUH0XVOLPV they lived in New Jersey and had no way of that a lot of my classmates had tried to blend right behind it. take care of students. Forgive me if I state the obvious: to impute knowing if I was okay. in as well. Girls who wore headscarves were The image exemplified how we saw ourselves, WKHFULPHVRIWKHVHKRUUL¿FWHUURULVWVWRWKRVH When I was finally able to get out of the city, now wearing hoodie sweatshirts. A lot of guys in the heart of Greenwich Village and close to Letter from the parent of a CAS sophomore: ZKR PD\ VKDUH WKHLU UHOLJLRQ RU WKHLU HWKQLF I got on a train to Edison, where I grew up. who had very long beards had trimmed their the world’s financial center. I cannot thank you and your staff enough for the 154 RUUHJLRQDORULJLQVLVWKHKHLJKWRILJQRUDQFH We got back home, and my father sat me down. beards down. Some had even completely shaved PDJQL¿FHQW ZD\ \RX KDQGOHG WKH VLWXDWLRQ 0\ 155 DQGSUHMXGLFH(DFKRIXVVKRXOGWDNHLWDVD He said that “when you go back to New York, them off. RICH STANLEY: Two days afterwards, even daughter is a resident at 80 Lafayette Street. I SHUVRQDOREOLJDWLRQWR¿JKWVXFKLQDSSURSULDWH ZDVDEVROXWHO\WHUUL¿HGDWWKHWLPHRIWKHDWWDFN HARVEY STEDMAN: At NYU, there is almost no I would prefer that you didn’t cover your And then there was one young woman who though everyone else is still trying to figure because I knew she would be on the street and en and egregious sentiments wherever we see majority group. Here there is an unbelievable head anymore.” prior to the 9/11 attacks had been wearing a out how to deal with the emotional impact of route to class at that time. I could barely function them emerge. kaleidoscope of people, nationalities, religions, My father is a religious guy. He’s got a big white head scarf to cover her hair, but also chose to it, people are looking at brochures and saying, at work because I had not heard from her.  7KH8QLYHUVLW\ZLOOQRWWROHUDWHDFWVRIKDWH races, personalities. beard. He himself covers his head. My parents wear a face veil—so that all you could see of her “What are we going to do about the fact that $Q\DFWRIKDWHZLOOEHPHWZLWKVZLIWDFWLRQRI When she returned from class and reported to I hope we did something to create that. And I RXUGLVFLSOLQDU\V\VWHPDVZHOODVUHIHUUDOWR were always encouraging and pushing me to do face were her eyes. And now, post 9/11, she had we have the Twin Towers on our recruiting bro- Coles Sports Center, she was eventually able to hope our gifted admissions people were clever some of these things, and now at a time when made a decision to still wear her head scarf chure that’s just about to get mailed? Should get through to me. She was sobbing because she WKHODZHQIRUFHPHQWV\VWHP had witnessed the destruction of the second tower, enough to find young people who were already The University stands by its members of people had questions about Islam and wanted to but she took off her face veil because she was we pull them? Should we mail them? Should EXWVKHZDVTXLFNWRDVVXUHPHWKDWVKHZDV¿QH inclined to be that way. 0XVOLPIDLWKDQGRI0LGGOH(DVWHUQGHVFHQW know what the religion actually stood for, they worried what might happen if somebody saw we cancel Parents Weekend?” and that she could not believe how wonderfully ZH FRXQW RQ DOO PHPEHUV RI WKH 8QLYHUVLW\ were telling me that they would feel a little more her dressed like that. NYU was handling everything. Although she had very little money at the time and no cell phone, TO: The University Community Community to do likewise. comfortable if I just kind of blended in and didn’t For the first time I was able to look into this LYNNE BROWN: The big decision was, Would we she wanted for nothing. This was a tremendous FROM:7KH2I¿FHRIWKH3URYRVW let people know that I’m a Muslim. girl’s face, and she looked back into my face, go ahead with it? comfort to me and I am very grateful. I wanted RE: Our Community and the Obligations LYNNE BROWN: I don’t know if we then had as Since my father was asking me, I did what he and I really felt so wretched. Here I was hiding her to come home but she would not hear of it…. RI7ROHUDQFH robust an understanding of our Muslim com- told me to do. who I was and blending in, and this young JOHN SEXTON: We said, “We’re not going to call DATE:6HSWHPEHU30 Letter from the father of a Stern junior: munity. We didn’t have an imam or a head of woman alone was there representing my faith it off. But we will also reschedule for anybody the Muslim community. But I don’t remember and my tradition. who would prefer not to come this weekend.” Parents who shy away from large universities Our University is renowned, and rightly so, on the premise that their children will be mere IRULWVGLYHUVLW\DQGIRULWVDFFRPSDQ\LQJVSLULW any particular concerns or issues. I made a decision that I would no longer hide About 60 percent of the folks rescheduled numbers rather than people obviously have no RI WROHUDQFH ZH KDYH PRUH LQWHUQDWLRQDO who I am. I would make a point not just to play for a month later. But we had many more than experience with NYU…. VWXGHQWV WKDQ DQ\ RWKHU 86 FROOHJH RU BOB BERNE: Just a general wariness about reac- the part but also to look the part, to the best of 2,000 people. People came who hadn’t signed XQLYHUVLW\ PDQ\ RI RXU VWXGHQWV DUH ¿UVW tions at all different levels. But it didn’t occur. my ability. And that if somebody had a question up, because there was a desire to be together. JHQHUDWLRQ $PHULFDQV DQG ZH UHÀHFW And New York helps, because it’s so heavily they wanted answered, I would take full respon- DQGHPEUDFHWKHFRVPRSROLWDQQDWXUHRI1HZ immigrant that people are more tolerant and sibility to tell my story and my narrative and

the Visionary A UNIVERSITY FINDING THE FOR THE NORMAN DORSEN: In May 2001, John’s appoint- ment was announced. In June, he entered into a 21ST co-presidency with Jay for the coming year and asked me to chair the transition team. CENTURY DIANE YU: My first job here, in 2001-02, was to be the deputy director of the transition team. ;<7:A When I met John in the early 1990s, I was the chief legal strategist and managing counsel at a Fortune 250 company, very involved in my FOR: President-Designate John E. Sexton FROM: Professor Norman Dorsen for the legal career. Presidential Transition Team John and I were on a panel together and took RE: Final Report of the Transition Team opposite views on whether there could be glob- DATE: March 8, 2002 al legal education. Nevertheless, we became JOHN SEXTON: In 2001, NYU had a story. In their day, the great universities in the very good friends throughout the decade. I THE CENTRALITY OF Essentially it was, “We’re sizzling hot.” UK and US were out in the country, withdrawn, ended up here because he offered me a once-in- THE ACADEMIC MISSION At the close of that 20-year period, from 1981 contemplative, the classic ivory tower. But a-lifetime opportunity to be in on the ground An important element of NYU’s becoming an to 2001, we had begun to talk about the miracle NYU’s founders said: There’s room for a new floor of his vision. exemplar of 21st century university education of Washington Square. What had happened in paradigm. Let’s create universities that are in It did seem a bit of a risk. He couldn’t identi- is the development of an even stronger Fac- those 20 years was miraculous. But it was not a and of the city. fy what my job would be, where I’d work, how ulty of Arts and Science, one that would rank 160 good present-day story for the community. In and of the city. much money I would make. It was a leap of among the best in the country. 161 Because every community is imperfect. The There was a whole set of things NYU had faith. But I haven’t regretted it a day. For example, ample and suitable academic students arrive. They don’t know what we were experienced as liabilities. The absence of a I was quite familiar with John’s legacy at the space for classrooms, laboratories, faculty of- like in 1981 and how miraculous it is in 2001. campus. The fact that, except for the Square, John Sexton DIANE law school—some of the pioneering things he ¿FHVDQGRWKHUXVHVDUHYLWDOWRWKHLQWHOOHFWX- They wonder why the water fountain isn’t work- most of our buildings aren’t next to other NYU bestows one of YU had done there and the innovations that affect- al enterprise. At present, the facilities in cer- his famous hugs. Chief of Staff and tain schools and other units of the University ing. And why that particular class was a stinker. buildings. The fact that we have no gate, no Deputy to the ed all of legal education. The vision he spelled So where’s the miracle? retreat space, no blades of grass. President since out very broadly for his presidency sounded are sub-par or poorly maintained, or both. I thirsted for a story. Then an interesting And yet once you see the personality that 2002; Co-Execu- as if it might be similarly a transformation of - tive Director of the 6RPHRIWKHVHGLI¿FXOWLHVDUHHVSHFLDOO\HYL influence came along. Deputy Mayor Dan emerges in and of the city, and in and of this NYU Abu Dhabi higher education. GHQWLQWKHVFLHQWL¿FGLVFLSOLQHV0DQ\RIRXU Doctoroff and Jay Kriegel, executive director of city, then things that had been viewed as liabili- Summer Academy research and teaching laboratories have not NYC2012, enlisted me to help them think about ties become virtues, at least for certain kinds of since 2009; Execu- been renovated in many years and need up- tive Director of the grading if the University is to achieve its ac- getting the Olympics to come to New York. people. People who are not afraid of complexity Sheikh Mohamed The tagline of the Olympic effort was, “Come or cacophony. bin Zayed Scholars ademic goals... Program since to New York, the world’s second home.” But, hello: People who are afraid of complex- FROM THE GLOBALIZATION 2008; Deputy They came up with great factoids to support ity and cacophony are not going to come to Director of the Uni- - the narrative—that New York was the first city New York in the first place. They’re going to versity Presidential $SDUWIURP1HZ

KEN LANGONE: This institution had a fantastic track record for the quality of its care and for NYU Langone having some of the greatest doctors in the Medical Center, seen from world. I have met absolutely remarkable people the East River. at all levels. But there was a disconnect between much of the physical plant and the caliber of the work it housed. “TENDING TO THEIR SOULS” LINDA MILLS THE REALITY SHOW, 2009 Senior Vice Pro- CREATING COMMUNITY vost for Under- JUST GOT HERE graduates in the Global Network MATT: Can’t believe it! NYU! University since EVERYONE: NYU! 2010; Associate MATT: Yeah, college! No more rules! No more LINDA MILLS: John had a very different vision were really a large community. We were a city. LINDA MILLS: Suicide has happened since. But Vice Chancellor for people breathing down my neck! I have the world Admissions and at my feet! of how we could now take the University to And as much as New York City had resources we have reduced, thankfully, the number of Financial Support EVERYONE: World at our feet! Whoo! the next level. But before we got to the global like hotlines for supporting people who were suicides and have taken the right measures, I at NYU Abu Dhabi network university, we needed to build a suicidal, we wanted to be in a position to offer believe, for preventing much of it. since 2009; Vice BIRTH OF MATT: I’m so excited! Provost and then EVERYONE: So are we! meaningful outside-the-classroom experience real help. We needed a hotline that anybody Now every student who comes in to Student Senior Vice Pro- The REALITY MATT: Although now I’m on my own. And I for students. could call anonymously 24 hours a day and get Health Services with a cold, an ear infection, or vost for Undergrad- GRQ¶WNQRZZKHUHDQ\WKLQJLV3HRSOHRQP\ÀRRU We knew that after their first semester or a counselor on the phone who was NYU-trained a broken finger gets asked a set of mental health uate Education ELIZABETH are discussing “downstein” and I don’t know what and University Life SWADOS SHOW that is. My dad said something about campus cash. year at NYU, too many students were leaving. to be there for them. That was the cornerstone. questions. And if they answer a certain number from 2002–10; Founding Artistic Do I have to take the subway to class? I’m sup- They weren’t happy. We had not tended to their Then, if they were going to call in and were in a particular way, they get referred to therapy. Professor of Social Director of The 2005 posed to be going to school but I feel like a tourist. souls. That was the work we had to do—to think in trouble, we needed to have mental health The follow-up is significant. We don’t just say, Work since 1999 Reality Show; As- EVERYONE: So do we… and of Public Pol- sociate Teacher at about the needs of our students from a psycho- personnel who could go out to see them. “Well, you might want to do this.” We com- icy and Law since Tisch since 2004 PSA logical, emotional, and spiritual point of view bined physical and mental health and brought 2004; Executive and provide for them. JOHN BECKMAN: We had to rethink how we were everybody together to say that the well-being of Director of the CRYSTAL: Feeling lost, confused, or alone? Center on Violence NYU students going to approach it. One, we were going to our students is absolutely paramount. Well, there’s help out there. Call the NYU Well- and Recovery perform in The ness Exchange Hotline at (212) 443-9999 or just SALLY ARTHUR: There were some darker sides. make help available all the time. And two, we since 2004 Reality Show. 9999 from any on-campus phone. Fall of 2003 was so tragic. After an episode of were going to be forward leaning, not wait for 166 several suicides, a lot of changes were made. people to come to us. 167 The windows were locked. Plexiglass on Linda led the clinical people into what LINDA MILLS: In 2005, John gave us this chal- LINDA MILLS: By the end of this hour-long show balconies. Much stronger security. But also an became, pretty quickly, the Wellness Exchange, lenge: Our students live in cyclical time. Every of music and dance, students walk out of increase in counseling services and in residence with Zoë Ragouzeos at the helm. And Deborah year, new students come and don’t know about there knowing our hotline number and how life services. Broderick and her team did a fabulous the health center, the Wellness Exchange hot- to get help. One of the positive outcomes is that students campaign to get the word out, make people line. How will we invite them into our health learned they had to care about their next-door aware of it. center so that we can increase significantly the ELIZABETH SWADOS: Linda Mills and Zoë neighbors and their roommates and people number of people who get help? Ragouzeos knew about my years of work with they met in class or on an athletic team or in a LINDA MILLS: Those components were necessary We turned to Liz Swados, a Tisch School of young people. So they asked me, “Would club and counsel them. in order to build the kind of health system we the Arts professor and famous director who you make a show that would talk about the And when they couldn’t handle it, to report it. have now, which really is a model. works with young people, to present content hotline—but also talk about the issues the in compelling ways that would draw them in. hotline deals with?” LINDA MILLS: It was stunning and scary and JOHN BECKMAN: Every emergency has its stages, Now every year about 20 Tisch students That’s the way The Reality Show began. uncertain. Here we were building this fabric for from the immediate need for notification to spend time with us and our clinicians talking I said I would only do it if it could be a really our students of a deep and penetrating life out- the long-term reflection on what is the bigger about the kinds of issues the therapists see. good show. I didn’t want it to be a TV cliché: side the classroom, but clearly we had missed problem, the essence. Then they spend the summer developing a “Are you depressed?” something very important. The speculation begins—too much stress musical performance called The Reality Show, I wanted really good singing, really good from studying. Or from living in New York. I which is paired with the presidential welcome dancing, high-level comedy—so that when JOHN BECKMAN: It was terrible on so many lev- understand the instinct. Everybody wants an for all freshmen when they start in the fall. you went, even though they were talking about els. The first and foremost was that you would explanation for something so tragic. being lost or worried about sex, you didn’t look at these young people and know how But there’s no more stress one year than the think you were being lectured. You were having much they had to live for. previous one or the next. We’re in the media a great time, watching a show with very capital of the world—and whatever happens talented performers doing what they do well. LINDA MILLS: We recognized a few things about here, whether great or terrible, gets picked up I call that going through the back door, preventing suicide. The first one was that we in a way that’s not true of other universities. which means the show is first, with the mes- sage hidden in it. On the other hand, we have to be very careful The Partners Plan was conceptualized by In the end, it was irresistible. DICK FOLEY: One of the many stories about the not to make anything look too appealing, John Sexton to enact his conviction—real- The deans before me, Duncan Rice and Phil success of NYU’s law school is that John, as a particularly suicide or deep depression, which ized during his tenure as dean of the law Furmanski, had done a lot of building. There deliberate strategy, went out to recruit new are romanticized in our culture. Our job is to school—that the success of the profes- were a lot of individually strong faculty hires law faculty in conjunction with Arts and sympathize—but never, never to make it cool. sional schools depends on the quality of and a sense of movement. A few departments Science departments. So we use a lot of humor. SUPPORTING Arts and Science and to implement the had arrived at the very, very top of their fields. That turned out to be a terrific strategy, not The response to The Reality Show has been recommendations of the transition team Other departments were quite strong, quite only for the law school but for Arts and Science. surprisingly, shockingly, unbelievably positive. that the University bolster the Faculty of energetic—but hadn’t quite got there. It’s often the case that leading scholars in a Students love it, they look forward to it, and THE VISION Arts and Science to “rank among the best So one of the things that excited me was not professional field really want to have a relation- they talk about it from year to year. The kids in the country.” only all the improvement that had taken place, ship with the appropriate Arts and Science who were in it are recognized in school. but the sense that Arts and Science in particu- department. The Reality Show has as much rehearsal or DICK FOLEY: I was dean of Arts and Science at lar was on the verge of another breakthrough. maybe more than a Broadway show. Every DEBRA LAMORTE: When John got the nod to Rutgers when NYU came calling. At first I was DEBRA LAMORTE: When John became president, single song or act has probably been rewritten be president, my predecessor, Naomi Levine, a little standoffish. I was happy at Rutgers. But JESS BENHABIB: If you look at institutions we he recognized that he was stepping into a three or four times, rewritten again, and then decided it was time to step down. She had been NYU came back again—and even a third time. are trying to compete with, their endowment is university where the professional schools were tried on its feet. at the University for 25-plus years and had done A fair number of people here have heard a much larger than ours—by $3 billion, $4 billion. at the top of the heap. You look at Courant, at We work all summer. Toward the end, we a remarkable job. line that in later years I was to use often at NYU, That generates a lot of income. Tisch, at Law, at Med, Dental—pick any one. work six days a week. The kids are amazing. And so, when John asked me to take this on, “Well, what does it hurt to talk?” John wanted to invest tens of millions of But the Faculty of Arts and Science needed to And every year the show changes. The basic my first reaction was, “How can anybody fill That was the beginning of a happy slippery dollars in Arts and Science. So he went to be improved. There were good—even very good— issues don’t change, but the emphasis does. Naomi’s shoes?” Naomi was and still is known slope that led me to accept the position of dean trustees and friends of trustees and said, “Look, departments, but the core graduate school We’re totally connected with mental health around New York City as “The Billion Dollar of the Faculty of Arts and Science at NYU in the we’re going to make a big investment, but you could be a lot better. And the undergraduate services and Student Affairs. We try to be Woman” and has this tremendous reputation year 2000. have to match.” experience had been at a B or a B+ level. So one relevant, first of all, to the times we’re in. in the field. I thought, “I’m not sure I want to John Sexton was not yet president. But NYU of his critical goals was, “How can I elevate the 168 leave the intimate, warm, womblike environ- knew to put me in front of him. And he painted JOHN SEXTON: It was a cardinal tenet of my undergraduate experience and bring it to the 169 THE REALITY SHOW, 2009 ment of the law school, where I know every- a picture. Every university is ambitious. At time as dean of the law school and as president same level as the graduate schools?” OPENING DANCE + INSECURITIES body and all the alums and their children and NYU, the level of ambition was white hot. Most that the single most important investment It would be impossible to do that all at grandchildren, to move over to this enormous universities are fairly conservative places that you make in a university or in a school is in once. With Dick Foley as the dean of FAS, Dave JEANNA: Am I too short to make friends? ANDY: Is it too soon to call my mom? apparatus known as NYU.” don’t want to try new approaches. NYU, for a its faculty. McLaughlin as the provost, and others, they HANNAH: Will everyone know I was waitlisted? At first I would walk through the Village, see whole bunch of complicated reasons rooted That’s the best thing you can do for students, identified 16 departments [about a third of the FARAH: I don’t know this dance. a flag, and say, “That’s an NYU building. I won- in its history and in the people who have been because the better the faculty, the more the total] and said, “If we invest the right amount of EDDIE: Why isn’t anyone else smiling? l to r: Lisa Ellen STEPH: Am I the token Asian? der who lives in there and what they’re doing.” Goldberg, John here, is a place that tolerates risk. students will thrive. money and recruit the right faculty and gradu- DAVE: I’m gonna hook up with everybody. It was so big. Sexton, NYU Everything flows from the quality of faculty. ate students, we will elevate those departments RACHAEL: Am I cute or annoying? So I went to see each one of the deans and parent Billy Joel, 2004-10 at the graduate and undergraduate level, which TRAVIS: I still sleep with a night light. Debra LaMorte, NICHI: I have a shiny t-zone. tried to learn as much as I possibly could and Professor will lift the entire boat.” CRYSTAL: I just peed a little bit. about each school. I took a lot of what I had Harvey Dale at That’s how the Partners program was con- JABARI: I was popular in high school. learned from the law school and applied it to the launch of the ceived. ROHAN: Will everyone see my jiggly butt? Campaign for NYU. “TO CREATE ADENIKE: Black people? Black people? the University. ELI: I look SO Jewish. The colleagues I met who accepted me at the HELEN KIMMEL: John Sexton wanted to have six ZACK: My phone isn’t cool enough. University level were wonderful in teaching trustees each put up $10 million for him to use MATT: I’m SO EXCITED. me the ropes. Little by little, we got our arms DICK SOMETHING at his discretion, to hire the best professors he RYANN: I wear sunglasses in dark clubs and I FOLEY don’t know why! around it. Vice Chancellor for could for the Faculty of Arts and Science. Strategic Planning since 2009; Dean THAT’S TONY WELTERS: WORTH So he asked a group of us, all The Reality Show is performed every year Led by Debra LaMorte and her team, NYU of the Faculty of with three different casts for incoming raised over $3 billion by 2008, a multi- Arts and Science trustees who were clearly vested in the institu- classes in New York, NYU Abu Dhabi, and year effort that was then the largest com- from 2000-09; tion, if we would commit $10 million each. NYU Shanghai. pleted campaign in higher education. Professor of ENDOWINGº He would take that, working with faculty, and Philosophy since 2000 bring the best and brightest to the institution to THE PARTNERS PLAN augment those who were best of breed here. BILL BERKLEY: Usually when people commit five, is we needed to work very hard with those 10 million dollars, that money is for endowment. chosen, privileged departments to make sure This was people committing money to be spent. they made choices only at the very, very, very It was a jump start to improve the University. highest level. But we also went out of our way to work with DICK FOLEY: With that mixture of Sexton vision other departments, even if they weren’t getting DICK FOLEY: The category of recruitment that and charm and persistence, we had a set of incremental resources. Sometimes faculty was perhaps the most unusual, although now trustees each of whom made an investment leave and there are openings. There are a whole other universities are using this strategy, up front. Given their help, the University was series of success stories in departments that was so-called midcareer hires. These hires are prepared to do something that very few other weren’t targeted as Partners but became much, usually associate professors who already have universities, very few other boards would have much better because of joint appointments tenure at another university. In some cases, dared do—to go into the endowment and loan shared with Partners departments. they might be very, very young full professors, us some money. but more often they’re associate professors, 8, DAVE MCLAUGHLIN: In biology, we were focusing 10, 12 years out. TONY WELTERS: I always thought about it as on comparative plant genomics. In physics, on Looking for those midcareer people is harder more a venture transaction. High risk, high soft condensed matter physics. We were focus- work than looking for junior people or very reward. And I think all would agree that the ing on departments in the social sciences—for senior people. In almost every discipline, dividends for both the institution and society example, economics—and on departments in there’s an established market for fresh PhDs, will be immeasurable for decades, and hopeful- the humanities, such as English. a set way in which the best graduate programs ly centuries. publicize the best graduates and universities DICK FOLEY: The working rule was that you’re compete for them. At the very senior level, The six trustees and their spouses who never going to have the line taken away from you there’s not perfect agreement but often very backed the Partners Plan were Bill Berk- if you decide that you haven’t found the best. large agreement about who the very, very best 170 ley, Laurence Fink, Helen Kimmel, Marty The only mistake you can make as a department are. At the midcareer level, it just takes a lot of 171 Lipton, Tony Welters, and Leonard Wilf. is to bring in somebody who isn’t the very best. work to identify potential talent. We did have searches and recruitments that But if you do it well, the upside is pretty big. JESS BENHABIB: The Partners Fund would match took multiyears to succeed. But we kept the You get all the benefits of a mature scholar, but, $60 million in donations from a group of trust- budget lines open. We said, “We’ll stay with you unlike more senior people, these people can ees with $150 million in University resources to as long as you’re willing. Don’t compromise.” still have 30-year careers at NYU. enable NYU to hire 250 faculty over five years. We weren’t afraid of going after faculty By the end, Partners would create a new TONY MOVSHON: Dick Foley made no bones at any university, so if there was someone at generation of Arts and Science faculty at NYU. about the fact that he was not going to simply Harvard or Princeton, Yale or Stanford whom make every department grow by 20 percent. we really wanted, we were more successful JOHN SEXTON: The plan would not compromise He was going to allocate the resources where he than not in getting them. in quality. It would not even appoint an A- thought there were opportunities, which is the But we also told departments not to be snobs. faculty member. It had to be an A+. If it meant NYU way of doing things. “Go look at the universities that are very, waiting a year or two for an A+, we would wait. very good, but that are not the top five or six. PETER LENNIE: It was characteristically Because you’re going to find unbelievable DICK FOLEY: First of all, we decided that we ambitious, it was done with great panache, talent there.” weren’t going to ignore the departments that and it worked. That turned out to be true. were already very strong, on the principle that it’s always easier to maintain strength than to The Partners: recreate it. So we were going to take departments Bill and Marjorie Berkley, Tony such as mathematics, philosophy, the Institute of Welters, Susan THE MIDCAREER Fine Arts and continue to work with them. and Marty Lipton, Then we looked at a set of departments Laurence Fink, Helen and Marty we thought were poised to become leading Kimmel, and departments of their kind. What that meant Leonard Wilf. STRATEGY NYU has made a name for itself by span- DICK FOLEY: You couldn’t be a major Arts “SPACE ning two new areas in biology—genomics and Science school without having a major IS A and systems biology. Comparative ge- presence in biology. The question we posed for nomics looks at the genomic features and Gloria and her colleagues was: Tell us how the DICK FOLEY: With Partners, we asked depart- gene networks across organisms to see investment should be directed. ments to think, How does the location in what humans share with, say, fruit flies PREMIUM New York City benefit your work? and worms (it turns out we share a lot). GLORIA CORUZZI: The Partners initiative enabled GLORIA We knew genomics needed new facilities. We Systems biology involves sophisticated us to recruit scientists into genomics at a level CORUZZI looked around, identified an old commercial Professor at the FOR US” mathematical modeling of complex in- where we could bring a cohort of scientists at Center for Genom- building on Waverly, and decided that would be teractions of genes within biological sys- once. You could never build momentum if you ics and Systems an ideal genomic center. tems. did it one at a time. So we were making what Biology since It was a challenging physical location 1991 (Chair of the we call cluster hires—around either an organ- Department of Bi- because its facade was historically protected. PETER LENNIE: The Partners Plan made a major ism or a topic. ology since 2003); But the result is this magical place, not only in commitment to strengthening science. But PhD, School of the design for researchers, with open labs and Medicine, 1979 there were certain kinds of things that NYU DICK FOLEY: We worked with not only those of people communicating and biologists sitting could not do in an urban environment. They us within Arts and Science—myself and Peter next to computer scientists and biophysicists, weren’t at NYU to start with, so it wasn’t a Lennie—but with Dave McLaughlin and John but because you see the students as well. question of extinguishing things that had Sexton, who was deeply involved as well. existed before. NYU Maximized Space The sciences at Washington Square were all GLORIA CORUZZI: Our genome hires were from Utilization on 7,500-sf Lot core disciplines. No worthwhile university can places like Harvard, Stanford, and Rockefeller. be without them, so they have to be sustained. We brought in a couple of people who study University Cleverly Carves Out 70,000 sf for the Center for Genomics & And the ways we chose to excel fit perfectly evolutionary genomics across microbes, plants, Systems Biology. 172 reasonably within an urban setting. and flies. Even though they study three differ- 173 Then there were fields in which the depart- ent organisms, their evolutionary genomic Turn-of-the-century brick buildings in historic ments did not have great historical strength. So approach has really enabled them to synergize. Greenwich Village might make a condo develop- er salivate, but they are not ideal for cutting-edge it really was an adventure and, to some degree, VFLHQWL¿F UHVHDUFK7KH FHLOLQJV DUH WRR ORZ WKH risky. If you can’t build on strengths, you don’t DAVE MCLAUGHLIN: Our work in comparative rooms too small, and the mechanical systems really know how far you can go. The major functional plant genomics makes natural use leave much to be desired. If you work for New York University (NYU), however, that is what’s investments were in these new domains. of the New York Botanical Gardens and the available in your neighborhood. Architects work- In biology, Phil Furmanski as chair and later Museum of Natural History and the databases ing with NYU have devised creative ways to Gloria Coruzzi were very clear about the future those institutions have, in addition to Cold transform three adjacent buildings into a single home for the new Center for Genomics & Sys- of genomics. I couldn’t have agreed with them Spring Harbor Laboratories, which is near tems Biology…. more. This was a domain in which we were well New York City. placed to excel, and making the right kinds of NYU is the largest private university in the “A lot of people talk in acres,” says John DeSantis, director of technical services and special projects hires would accelerate that. United States—and New York City is our endow- for NYU. “We talk in square feet and sometimes ment. We can do things in New York City that square inches. Space is a premium for us.”

other very fine universities simply cannot do. —MARCH 2008: LISA WESEL, TRADELINE INC.

DICK FOLEY: Genomics is a paradigmatic example of Partners: It’s picking out a major A PARTNERS department, identifying the department’s investment, the department’s doing a superb job in figuring out the particular focus, a PARADIGM : multiyear hiring plan that involves searches virtually every year, and then a physical The NYU Center for Genomics and renovation to provide these faculty with a GENOMICS Systems Biology. home. It is quite magnificent. Soft materials pervade our everyday some people from outside said, “You could really because they’re necessarily any more talented “A lives—from dairy foods, whose creami- help by giving some straight talk to the dean but because they’re more experienced. ness depends on the number and size about what the physics department needs.” Junior folks have to get tenure. They often COMMUNITY distribution of air bubbles, to petroleum Phil Furmanski interviewed me. As he have families. They have to establish a career. products such as motor oil and gasoline. explained it, there were resources that hadn’t It’s a really significant additional burden to be a WITHOUT Soft matter research explores how nature been there before, which they were using to junior person in a group where you’re responsi- organizes these systems and can en- create excellence in different departments. ble for building the department as well. WALLS” hance products’ function. Pharmaceuti- In this way, they improved departments like But Glennys Farrar hired some fabulous cals therapies, in particular, benefit from philosophy and biology, and, later, economics. young people. It was also a good demonstration physicists’ growing understanding of how He had asked the physics department for of the potency of cluster hiring. If you want THE CENTER FOR SOFT MATTER RESEARCH molecules self-assemble, paving the way a plan, and their plan had been, “Well, let’s to convince people that you’re serious about for new drug-delivery techniques. hire one person who’ll work with this guy, and establishing a presence in a new field, that’s the another person who’ll work with that guy.” way to do it. DAVID DAVID GRIER: Most research universities raise It didn’t add up as a persuasive plan. And so The astrophysics group was the first hires of GRIER money to build the endowment. The idea they made a decision to have an outside chair, real consequence in physics. And then came the Professor of Physics since here was to build the infrastructure, to build and they were interviewing. second round, with David Grier, Paul Chaikin, 2003 (Chair since up the faculty, to create something that’s As I understood it, there had been a discus- and David Pine. 2005); Director of worth endowing. sion that physics would shed its experimental the Center for Soft Matter Research That seemed to me very, very creative, as side in order to save space and money and GLENNYS FARRAR: I’d formulated the idea that from 2003–04 creative as what the University did in the ’70s, maybe be a simulation shop to do computing we should have something that eventually which had a huge payoff in the long run. analysis that would be tied into Courant. turned into the Center for Cosmology and My understanding is that when the Partners I told Phil that this was just a totally ridic- Particle Physics. Because there was a very strong program started, the administration asked the ulous plan, because the unique thing physics tradition in particle physics and very good 174 departments, “Do you have a plan?” brought to the world was where you had nature people there, and also because astronomy 175 In 1998, the physics department had just imposing something you had to figure out, and astrophysics were entering a fantastic recruited Glennys Farrar from Rutgers, and she but it was also mathematically rigorous and growth period. had a vision—not to try to build up the physics well-formulatable. If you couldn’t keep that The other thing I wanted to do was to have an department all at once in all the different experimental part of it and just did numerical experimental component that would be at the l to r: Professors David Pine and areas, but to focus on particular areas where simulations, you might as well save yourself the Square but connect to other strengths at NYU, Paul Chaikin, there isn’t strength in the city, or anywhere trouble of having a physics department. like the medical school. John Sexton, around, where NYU can shine and could argu- He thanked me and said our meeting was Soft matter physics came to my mind because and Professor David Grier at the ably be the best. very stimulating. About half an hour later he for a new, experimental endeavor you don’t opening of the called and offered me the job. want to compete head to head with really great Center for Soft Glennys Farrar was the first woman at It was very unexpected, because people had institutions. They will simply get the best people Matter Research. Princeton to receive a PhD in physics. told me that they weren’t looking for someone because the resources are so huge. But I came to with my views. understand by talking to people that at the time GLENNYS GLENNYS FARRAR: I was originally a particle What made me take it seriously was that I there was no soft matter physics in the US. FARRAR theorist, but I was making a transition, broad- thought there was huge potential. It wasn’t It was highly appreciated in Europe, and there Professor of ening out into doing a lot of astrophysics and a bad department, with people who weren’t were individuals like Paul Chaikin who were Physics since 1998 (Chair from cosmology in addition to particle theory. smart enough to figure something out. The doing it, but there was no group of people doing 1998–2001); However, I had no experience whatever in people who were here were very, very good. it. When I learned about this, I called Paul. Director of anything administrative. That was perhaps a The big issue was hiring. The field was just at the cusp. It didn’t take the Center for Cosmology and legacy of being female in physics departments, very long talking to Paul to come up with this Particle Physics but all my efforts had been in research. I hadn’t PETER LENNIE: One of the things that was un- idea of something grand. from 2001–08 even chaired a committee. usual and made life a bit tougher was bring- He said that I had called in a timely way, I love New York, but the physics institutes here ing in a cohort of junior folks. When you’re because he had a second postdoc turn him were quite weak. I was assured that there was no establishing a new field, generally you want to down who didn’t want to live in the boondocks chance NYU would give me the job as chair, but anchor it with some of the senior people, not in Princeton. Then I realized I was actually getting his build up a center in soft matter research. And you have to get the Landmarks Commission advice about David Grier—and I could see that to make ties to the departments of biology to grant a variance so that you can change the maybe Chaikin himself was another opportunity. and chemistry, to Rockefeller University, to appearance of the building. I had not known David Pine at the beginning. Columbia—all the resources that were already They did, which was great. It was really Paul and David Grier who identi- here but didn’t have this focus. Then we asked the University to knock out all NEW HOMES: fied him as a good third person. That conversation took about five years. the interior walls, because we didn’t want to be I initiated the idea, then it was on hold, and By the end, I realized that I didn’t want to be divided. The labs we built are big and open. Peo- then it got resumed under Allen Mincer, the involved in just an advisory role. I wanted to ple move into them and set up based on what CAPITAL RENOVATIONS chair after me. be part of it. they’re doing, what their interests are, rather In 2003, I resigned from the University than based on who they are and where they’ve IN ARTS AND SCIENCE PETER LENNIE: When you’re recruiting people of Chicago, and by the beginning of 2004 I come from. of that caliber, nobody’s going to come unless was here. This idea of working together in a commu- they can be sure they have great colleagues to nity without walls is really paying off in a big come with. They want to continue to excel at GLENNYS FARRAR: I have this theory about why way, both in the research and in the training DICK FOLEY: We knew at the beginning that what they’re doing, and they can’t excel with- there would be so much potential in this op- we can provide our students. And it also makes the quality of our facilities in Arts and Science out the right kind of colleagues. portunity at NYU—that the kind of people who for a much more fun environment. really did not match the caliber of our faculty They knew each other well. They knew what make the best scientists are adventuresome, We have a whole slew of undergraduates or students, and certainly not to the level of our they could achieve together. But they had to risk takers. And that therefore you can recruit working in the lab, too. These are not bot- ambitions. So Partners also included immense be persuaded that we would make the kind of really outstanding people to come. Often, they tle-washing jobs. These are people who are renovation projects. investment in what they wanted to do so that it are a profile of New Yorkers. New Yorkers tend doing research, answering questions that don’t could all happen. to be gregarious and want to talk to each other have answers yet. DAVE MCLAUGHLIN: In addition to hiring faculty, Nobody would commit until they knew the and are also risk-taking. we would develop the infrastructure to support others were going to commit. So we had to line My sense was that the reason people most DAVE MCLAUGHLIN: Traditionally, much scholar- it—faculty space, faculty housing, staff support. 176 up these commitments in the subjunctive: wanted to come was the opportunity to build up ship is done by a single individual in a contem- We had an opportunity with sufficient resourc- 177 Journalist, alumna, Person A would say, “I’ll come, given this,” and something in soft matter and to be with each plative mode of work—and quite often that is and trustee es to change the complexion of the arts and sci- Person B would say, “I’ll come, given that,” and other. So getting decent space was essential. still true. Maria Bartiromo ences at New York University, from a very good Person C would say, “I’ll come, given A and B.” But the problems of the day also demand interviews John research university to a truly outstanding one. Sexton in the new DAVID GRIER: DAVID GRIER: Paul was at Princeton, David Grier was in The problem is: Most experimen- expertise from across disciplines. That forces television studio When I left the University of Chicago, and David Pine was at University of tal physics involves huge laboratories, and real researchers and scholars to seek interactions in at the Arthur L. Chicago to come to NYU, my colleagues there DICK FOLEY: By the end of Partners, we had California, Santa Barbara. estate is expensive in New York. Then the ques- order to bring to bear on a given problem the Carter Journalism thought I was out of my mind. One of the renovated over half the Arts and Science space. Institute. tion comes up: If space is precious, what’s the wide range of expertise needed to contribute to things they said was that I would never again A whole set of departments had new homes. DAVID GRIER: I went to the University of Chicago best, densest bang-for-buck use of that space? its solution. have a decent graduate student. and joined the physics department. It was a The Center for Soft Matter Research is housed “THE Then, when I got here, there were two grad- Programs and departments in new spac- great ride. Then I started talking to folks at NYU in the Meyer Physics Building, designed in the DAVID GRIER: In physics, I have daily and weekly uate students already at NYU who heard I was es included the Center for Genomics about the new things that were going on there, 1960s and built in the 1970s to be physics labs. conversations and research connections with +744)*7:)<1>-, coming and wanted to work in the area I was and Systems Biology, creative writing, where not just NYU but New York City could The building was without windows. The hall- folks over in the biology department and in the INTERDISCIPLINARY helping to start up. economics, journalism, linguistics, phi- have a presence it hadn’t had before. way had doors that were closed, because there chemistry department. We have joint students I said, “Sure, let’s give it a try.” losophy, politics, and social and cultural We were wondering what directions NYU were experiments going on. in all of those programs. In the Courant Insti- PERSONALITY” They turned out to be two of the best gradu- analysis. Those with renovated spaces physics might take. One of the winning ideas It was a very dark, uninviting environment to tute, we have joint students in math, applied ate students I’ve ever worked with. And they’ve included condensed matter physics and was this new field of soft condensed matter work in. And it fostered separation between the math, and computer science. been followed by wave after wave of outstand- cosmology and particle physics. In addi- physics. It’s very popular, because it has ties to groups rather than collaboration. But in the University writ large, we also have ing scientists. tion to these major projects, there were fundamental questions in physics and mathe- ongoing collaborations with the dental college, We’ve been very successful in getting great scores of smaller renovations. matics and also ties to industry and everyday PETER LENNIE: It was old verging on dismal. with the medical school, with the business people, people other people notice. What we’re life. In fact, a lot of the industries that are school. We had a lot of physics graduate looking for are those people who not only are interested in this area of physics are clustered DAVID GRIER: We asked the University if they students who make the jump from research in going to be great—great scientists and great around the New York metropolitan area. would please put windows in the building. physics to research in finance. colleagues—but who are going to have the The idea was to bring in a team principally of That’s a remarkable undertaking, because collaborative, interdisciplinary personality that experimental physicists, but also theorists, to the facades around here are landmarks—and you need to thrive at NYU. ricocheting effect, as philosophy helped classics, and history helped political science, FOCUS and economics helped finance. That’s exactly what happened with Partners. ON THE LIBERAL ARTS It allowed a tremendous inflow of talent into FAS across divisions.

PETER LENNIE: You can have a university without “ MATTHEW SANTIROCCO: WE’RE There are lots of great a law school. You can have a university without universities out there, but not all of them get it. a medical school, a business school, a school of Here the sense was that the liberal arts under- the arts. gird everything. But you can’t have a university without a Our liberal arts faculty is really very, very chemistry department or a history department strong. The challenge was to put them in the or an English department or an economics NEVER way of our undergraduates—even our freshmen department. That’s why the arts and sciences in their first year. Because faculty like working bear a disproportionate part of the reputational with students, even young students who are not burden of the institution. SATISFIED” fully up on the bibliography or the methodolo- gy. They like their inquisitiveness. And we have RICHARD SCHECHNER: Thirty years ago, when I extraordinary students in the College of Arts got here, I would say, “I’m from NYU, but I’m and Science. at the School of the Arts, where I do such and That’s fine in theory and lip service at many such.” I would play all my cards. places, but there’s a resource allocation that Now I can play my NYU card. That’s a big 178 PETER LENNIE: Academic reputations change in- Which positioned us to do even greater things flows from it. At least for a time, the deans of difference in prestige. 179 credibly slowly. Nobody can expect that the big, in the next 10 years. other schools understood that while they’re The leaders are a little bit corporate, but valuable, important investments NYU made in Biology, physics, chemistry, and psycholo- investing in their own faculty they also need they’re also visionaries. If the world is going science at Washington Square will immediately gy were good departments, but they weren’t to invest in the liberal arts faculty. to be corporatized, better from John Sexton’s change NYU’s reputation as a powerhouse operating at the highest level. By the end of The college is the undergraduate liberal arts point of view than BP’s. in science. Partners, all those departments were strong, division. It serves students from all the schools, But there’s no question that the investments with very, very strong leadership. so there’s some self-interest by the other TONY WELTERS: It all goes back to that first cup have been recognized in their respective fields. During that same time, there was a remark- schools in shoring it up. of coffee that continues to cost me a lot. But it’s able turnaround at the medical school and the But the faculty in the college is the same fac- in furtherance of a great vision. BILL BERKLEY: The Partners plan went fabulous- amount of research being done there. And in ulty that teaches in the Graduate School of Arts When you wake up in the middle of the night ly. We were able to recruit at the A, A+ level, terms of research, our respectable dental school and Science. So it wasn’t just the teaching but and hear that one of your faculty members hiring people, funding them without having became the best in the country. also the research mission that was strengthened becomes a Nobel laureate, that makes you feel to worry about budgetary constraints from the In this same period, Poly entered the Univer- by the sort of recruitment we were able to do. good about the investment. Or when you talk to past. It has worked out exceptionally well. sity’s radar—the beginning of filling another students and they say to you, “But for X faculty hole in our science enterprise. DICK FOLEY: The quality of undergraduate member, I would not have considered NYU.” Or DICK FOLEY: One of the great things about NYU, students at the College of Arts and Science has when you’re trying to figure out the future of as John puts it, is: We’re never satisfied. Now By 2009, the University had expanded increased dramatically. The buzz that sur- cities and you hear, “NYU’s the only place that’s we had a whole set of departments that were Arts and Science faculty by 20 percent rounds NYU helps us recruit faculty. It’s a buzz made that one of its highest priorities.” strong, thriving. But that doesn’t mean you can or 125 positions. It was the most rapid that attracts undergraduate students and leads That’s how it pays off. rest on your laurels. expansion of the faculty in NYU’s history. graduate students to our doors as well. A remarkable thing that happened in the Open positions in the FAS faculty contin- Top students won’t continue to come to a Partners period, not just in FAS but across ued to be filled, so that as much as one- place that doesn’t have top faculty. Top faculty the University generally, was that our profile third of the Arts and Science faculty had won’t continue to come to a place that doesn’t increased in the STEM subjects—science, been hired during the Partners era. have top students. So it’s all got to fit together. technology, engineering, and mathematics. We could accelerate the process, which had a STUDENTS In the life of a university, some issues are As a result of our conversations, we agreed OR EMPLOYEES? resolved over time while others erupt, not to take the NLRB decision to court. Our recede, and reappear under changing condition was that the union would send us a DEBATE OVER UNIONIZATION circumstances. letter, which it did, stating that it would not bar- gain over what we called academic issues, such NYU has been at the forefront of gradu- as qualifications for degrees and fellowships. Demonstrators on ate student union issues since the late the first day of the 1990s. The University established a prec- DATE: March 1, 2001 graduate students’ edent in 2000 when it initially bargained MEMORANDUM TO: The University Community strike, November FROM: Harvey J. Stedman, Provost 2005. with the United Auto Workers (UAW), as well as when it did not renew the contract RE: A Decision on Graduate Assistant with the union five years later. Unionization …Over the past several months, we have BOB BERNE: Because we’re a private university consulted extensively with members of the and not a public one, we fall under the NLRB, University Community…. the National Labor Relations Board. For many One thing has been clear as a result of our years, the NLRB said that graduate students consultative process. There is a widely-held could not unionize. value across the University that has been Our position is that graduate students are articulated by both those who believe that primarily students, not employees. The teach- ZH VKRXOG KDYH FKDOOHQJHG WKH FHUWL¿FDWLRQ ing activities they’re engaged in are part and of the UAW in the courts and by those who parcel of their degree. believe that we should start bargaining with We’re not anti-union; we just didn’t think the union—the importance of protecting the graduate students should be unionized. academic nature and quality of what we do. 181 In the time since the results of the gradu- KATE STIMPSON: Who’s in charge of the class- ate assistant unionization election were an- room? I believe passionately that the classroom nounced and the union requested that we is the faculty’s. You have to be fair and you have bargain, we have been exploring various to have procedures in place. And you have to do ways to insure that the bargaining process, if things the right and moral way. it were to take place, would not diminish the But NYU was not the place for a union. This quality of our academic activities such as how was not your ordinary workplace. We were deal- we structure, teach, and staff the curriculum ing with faculty and students. We were dealing and the content of the curriculum; admis- with classrooms, to me a special and—I’m with sions policies and degree requirements, and John Sexton—a sacred space. decisions on academic progress for students; hiring and evaluation criteria for faculty; and That’s what I fought for. conditions of fellowships….

BOB BERNE: In the late 1990s, when the NLRB … The UAW has acknowledged the impor- had a majority of Democratic appointees, they tance of removing these issues from the col- changed their opinion and said, with NYU lective bargaining setting, and this will be a as the test case, that graduate students now key element as we move forward. could unionize. At that point, we could have refused to bar- BOB BERNE: We bargained over many months, gain with the union—and it would go to court. and around 2001, we signed a four-year contract The court would decide, as it does in some to form a graduate student union. NLRB cases, whether the decision of the NLRB Over the course of that contract, the union held. But NYU entered into informal conversa- brought a number of grievances, specifically tions with the union. around the academic issues we thought we had agreed they wouldn’t. They got involved in KATE STIMPSON: The UAW’s regional office Poly is interesting. It still recruits a number who would teach the courses. They got involved was just up the street on University Place. of students who are from disadvantaged back- in the time students should spend in getting For almost a semester, we had pots and pans. grounds. A large percent of its students are Pell their degrees. We let the union know that we And the picket lines would chant. Grant-eligible [considered the most economical- thought these grievances were outside the Not everybody went out on strike. Some ly needy]. When they graduate, they are highly bounds, but they went ahead. union supporters went out. A few faculty sought after. You take people who don’t have Then in 2004, when the Brown University stopped teaching. We had to put in place mea- RETURN OF the wherewithal to go to very well-known plac- case went again before the NLRB, which now sures that would protect the undergraduates es. Then you give them an education that will had Republican appointees, they reversed the who were being taught. make them very desirable employees. Now what NYU decision. Now graduate students did not can be more important in the American psyche have the right to unionize. BOB BERNE: We filled in with other people teach- ENGINEERING: than creating the American dream? This was around the time that the NYU ing the courses—or people taught off campus. The American dream, by the way, is a phrase contract was expiring. So the University had coined by a Poly alumnus. [James Truslow Ad- a choice: Would we voluntarily continue the KATE STIMPSON: Would I do it again? Yes, BROOKLYN ams, who graduated from Poly in 1898, used the relationship with the union? Because we didn’t absolutely. The classroom is the domain of term in his 1931 book, The Epic of America.] have to. Or would we just end it and go back to the faculty and of the students. For me, that’s the way it was before the initial contract? the moral heart of the matter. RICHARD THORSEN: There was a geographic It was a tough call, and the campus was But was it hard? Friendships were obviously advantage to NYU. There was the historical divided. There were many people who thought tested. And my reputation as a progressive was connection to NYU. But the way it was initially we should continue to recognize the union. obviously tested. Traitor, traitor. It was painful, proposed in 2004 was not sufficiently attractive Others felt specifically that because of the very painful for many of us. POLY in addressing the various issues the two parties K.R. attempts to enlarge the scope of the bargaining The picket lines went away. We continued to SREENIVASAN were interested in. So it didn’t get off the around academic issues, it was not appropriate. do our work. The union supporters continued Professor of JUNE 2008 ground the first time round. 182 We engaged in a number of processes to get to do their organizing. Some of the best of Physics and 183 Mathematics since SREENI: a sense of the community. We formed a Senate them graduated. 2009; Senior There were alumni who were con- committee and asked them for recommenda- It subsided. But it never ended. Vice Provost and cerned because they misinterpreted what NYU tions. We went to the Provost Academic Prior- The leaders [of the movement to unionize] Special Advisor wanted. They thought NYU Poly would just buy on Science and ities Committee, a group of faculty members, were my students. I would go in, and this one Technology to the When NYU sold the Heights in the 1970s, it Because there’s no value in having an engineer- those buildings, use them for its purposes, and and asked them to formulate recommenda- student would stand up and read out of her Vice Chancellor was also forced to give up its school of engi- ing school unless it’s going to be a good one, downgrade engineering. tions. We had extensive conversations with the little notebook, “Marx says”—as if I didn’t know of NYU Abu Dhabi neering, which merged with the Polytechnic a great one. If the school becomes as strong as The board of trustees of Poly was also con- since 2009 deans, who often held conversations within who Marx was. Institute of Brooklyn. Many of the NYU engi- the science departments in Courant, then it’ll cerned, in part because Poly has been a place their own schools and faculties. It was a Groucho Marx, not a Karl Marx, neering faculty then migrated to Poly. be great for NYU. where disadvantaged students could get an The Senate, Academic Priorities, and deans moment. education. They worried that the merger would all recommended that we not renew the RICHARD THORSEN: NYU sought on several occa- K.R. SREENIVASAN (“SREENI”): NYU had engineer- erode Poly’s social relevance. contract. We followed that recommendation. BOB BERNE: The strike wound down over the JUDITH sions to get back into engineering—unsuccess- ing since 1832, a year after the University was And then there were faculty concerns. Initial The result was a strike by the graduate course of the academic year. And we ended up MILLER fully, but it nevertheless tried. Ever since they established. Poly was founded in 1854 and has a discussions started with the notion that their Professor of students who wanted a union. going back to a situation where we didn’t have French since lost the engineering school at the Heights, they very illustrious history. It was always technolog- tenure was not going to be guaranteed in the a union. 2002 (Chair from had this nagging desire to get back into it. ically very savvy, starting with the building of new place, and of course that didn’t go very well. JUDITH MILLER: The French department drafted I think there was some lingering animosity 2003–07); Direc- the Brooklyn Bridge, to which Poly contributed. tor of NYU in Paris PETER LENNIE: a statement in support of all its students’ de- toward those of us who made the decision not from 2000–02; When I was first drawn into the From the mass production of penicillin to the The first overture toward merger did not cisions. “The professors in the French depart- to recognize the union, not to negotiate a con- Visiting Professor discussions, it wasn’t clear that we needed automatic counting of votes in a state assembly, advance. But key trustees and academic ment consider their [graduate] students to be tract. But the campus was divided. You would of French from a school of engineering. I’m a great fan of to optics, microwaves, and polymers, Poly was leaders of both institutions continued to 1988–2000 their young colleagues and support them and either recognize the union or you wouldn’t. engineers. But a school is expensive to get, and very strong. believe a merger represented a gain for care about them. We believe students are all There wasn’t a middle ground. it’s expensive to do engineering well, at least as But in later years, the sense of excellence was NYU and for Poly and kept open the chan- making a choice according to their conscience.” expensive as doing lab science. being eroded. Poly started accepting students nels of communication. By 2007, another The issue of unionization would come So when the Poly opportunity came up, I of indifferent quality, because it needed money round of discussions began, leading to an back several years later and remain a fo- was among those who had cold feet about the to support itself. And people couldn’t focus on affiliation agreement as a first step to a cus of ongoing campus debate and policy. cost of developing a distinguished presence. research, as they had to teach a lot more. full merger. JOHN SEXTON: The Courant people in particu- RICHARD THORSEN: The agreement that has lar were eager to have us bring Poly in. They been worked out between Poly and NYU is believed that the absence of engineering was a two-step process. Step one is we enter into going to inhibit the growth of science gener- affiliation, which has a precise definition at ally at the University. We were also hearing it the state level. But the two institutions are still more and more from some of the really strong independent for most purposes. scientists at some of the professional schools, Both institutions are working toward the such as the dental school and even Tisch, with process of consolidation, when we move inside its Game Center. NYU in the corporate sense and become the With Jerry Hultin on the scene as Poly’s presi- 18th school of NYU. dent, we were able to propose a new framework for Poly—to keep the corporations of NYU and On June 24, 2008, the New York Board of Poly separate until both sides were satisfied. Regents approved the affiliation of Brook- lyn Polytechnic and New York University, RICHARD THORSEN: Technology and engineer- creating the Polytechnic Institute of NYU. ing no longer can operate in their own little bubble. There are so many opportunities and SREENI: For Poly, the real advantage is that it needs for technology to interact with other becomes part of a bigger research university, disciplines. which gives a necessary breadth for faculty and Engineers and scientists develop new materi- students. For NYU, in this age you really cannot als. Well, so does the dental profession. So does claim to be a great university without some the medical profession, in terms of materials basis in technology and engineering. 184 that are compatible with the human body and will contribute to the long life of artificial limbs RICHARD THORSEN: The relationship [with NYU] and implants. has done two things. First of all, we have been Then there’s our continuing strength in the able to become more selective in our admis- RALPH ALEXANDER telecommunications arena, which touches the sions process. That’s the glow of NYU. Also—and Chair of the NYU entertainment business, the business world. these numbers are dramatic—we’ve been able Poly Board of Stock transactions are all telecommunica- to recruit across the country in ways that we Trustees since 2008 (member tions-based. weren’t able to before. of Polytechnic So there’s been this changing context of the At the graduate level, if you go to places in University’s Board role of technology in society. As an institution India and China, in the Middle East, everybody of Trustees since 2000) that did not have within its doors a medical knows New York. New York University is a school, a dental school, a business school, we globally recognized institution. So we’ve had at Poly found building these relationships to be enormous growth in our graduate student somewhat difficult. enrollment, primarily driven by international enrollment. RALPH ALEXANDER: For alumni, the definition President Hester would frequently refer to of a good alma mater is one that prepares the engineering school as the jewel in NYU’s An NYU Poly graduate student, students to compete anywhere and everywhere. crown. This is the opportunity to put the jewel left, works with To continue to do that will require developing back in the crown. a local public engineering students with a broader perspec- school student during an tive who can collaborate with professionals in academic other fields. enrichment Being a part of NYU is a huge step in making program on the science of sure that Poly students will be able to do so. smart cities. “UNAPOLOGETICALLY

dented number of faculty members, students, ” administrators, staff members, and alumni TOWARD THE from all sectors of the University. Two dozen town hall meetings were held, and an online TH system was set up for collecting comments. URBAN 200 Everything was shared with the board’s executive committee. ANNIVERSARY The Framework embraced a strategy for NYU built on the notion of NYU as a global net- work university. It had one of the first formal NYU Tops Harvard FRAMEWORK 2031: Only after the recovery of downtown articulations of this new model of a research for Fourth Year as ‘Dream New York from 9/11 and the stabilizing university: a global network anchored in New School’ for Students of NYU’s finances—by implementing a York City and Abu Dhabi, linked to smaller ACADEMIC 10-year budget cycle, eliminating the sites located throughout the world, each with New York University, riding a wave of sentiment structural deficit, addressing deferred its own defining characteristics—and all with for urban campuses, beat out Stanford and Ivy maintenance, and resolving the Medical academic programs of the highest excellence. League schools such as Harvard for the fourth year running as the “dream school” of choice for Center situation—could the University’s An important tool in conceptualizing students in a survey…. STRATEGY leaders address NYU’s long-term aca- the shift in NYU’s approach to global educa- “Students’ tastes have shifted,” Robert Franek, demic needs. tion that had been under way for years, the vice president and publisher of Princeton Review’s book division, said in a telephone Framework identified the global network as a 186 interview. “More are applying to schools that are IN AN URBAN Framework 2031 was an overarching defining element of NYU’s future. 187 unapologetically urban.” strategic blueprint, offering guiding prin- — MARCH 28, 2007: JAMES M. O’NEILL, BLOOMBERG CENTURY ciples for the University’s academic direc- DUNCAN RICE: Recently, I’ve been theorizing tion and its necessary choices. Affirming about the extent to which universities, while LYNNE BROWN: The NYU story coincided with 2007 NYU’s history, the plan noted that NYU based in cities and countries, are also almost the uplifting of New York, that same trajectory could not do everything but would have to independent of their nationalities. If you look that brought New York City from its nadir, a invest in excellence selectively. It ratified at the Middle Ages, you would think of Venice, moment when headlines blared “Ford to New NYU’s global ambition, recognizing that you would think of Genoa. In a more recent York City: Drop Dead,” to the point where now the University had already embarked on period, you would think of Singapore and Hong New York City is such a magnet for students all that path and urging an intensification of Kong as being the equivalent of city-states— over the country. NYU’s global commitment. where the city is of an enormous importance, We could not have projected ourselves but it transcends its nation, and, in turn, the nationally and convinced not only students but It also made clear that NYU did not have universities of the cities transcend both their parents to send their sons and daughters here the requisite physical space in New York cities and their nations. They are quasi-autono- unless New York City was seen as a safe environ- City to fulfill these academic ambitions. mous global players. ment for them, one that could launch them in their careers but also protect them while they JOHN SEXTON: The executive committee of JOHN SEXTON: By 2031, the 200th anniversary of were here during their college years. the board asked that the University’s leader- New York University, New York City will be one I like to think that NYU and our neighbors— ship develop a document that described the of the 6 or 8 or 10 idea capitals, the great nodes Columbia, the New School, Cooper Union—were likely opportunities for and challenges to the of human activity at the highest level. all part of keeping New York City vibrant, on University’s academic mission over the decades Universities are the key, because their task is track at a time when businesses might have leading to the University’s bicentennial in 2031. thought and creativity. They attract the talent been leaving. The result, “NYU Framework 2031,” involved class. So it’s vital to the future of New York that Taking the 4 train to Colleges and universities don’t leave. They Yankee Stadium for the entire NYU community throughout the we build the intellectual, cultural, and educa- stay, and we did. Commencement. 2007-08 academic year, engaging an unprece- tional infrastructure of the city. NYU 2031: Based on the recommendations of LYNNE BROWN: I’ve been at the University for interested in engaging, even if we’ll never cede Framework 2031, the University began to decades, watching NYU go from a regional, the authority to others to make our decisions. SECURING EXCELLENCE develop NYU 2031, a plan focused only commuter-based good school to a major on physical space. It was the first attempt national urban research university. It’s been ELLEN PETERSON-LEWIS: In the ’60s, you had in NYU’s history to take a long-term and a thrilling ride. Washington Square Village. Then you had Silver BALANCING strategic look at the University’s space It took guts and vision, and it took grabbing Towers. But when NYU started expanding east needs in the context of its urban environ- opportunities when you saw them. In that and west, people were really upset. ment and to chart the space required to sense, the NYU story was very much a New York I think NYU is getting better at it. They’ve been TOWN AND GOWN sustain its academic momentum in the City story. But it came at a price, and some of doing this piecemeal, piecemeal, piecemeal. It’s coming decades. that price was not being as mindful as we could important that they have a master plan. have and should have been of the impact of our NYU 2031 is not a “master plan,” for the Univer- getting better on what John Sexton calls the ALICIA HURLEY: First and foremost, which was sity does not have a large, contiguous campus over which it can exert control. Instead, it is a citywide fragile ecosystem of this neighborhood and of extraordinary at the time, we said, “We’re not strategy for how to provide the physical space Greenwich Village. So we began to pay careful going to put it all here”—in the Village. needed for NYU’s long-range academic goals. attention to that ecosystem. We had to come up with a strategy to say, —“NYU 2031: IN SUMMARY” If we really want to sustain the gains we’ve “We really need to start looking outside of the LYNNE BROWN: The goal is trying to get a careful made, it calls for a different posture. area. What academically can work in different look at where we need to grow, and in what parts of the city?” areas—classrooms, offices and labs, dorms, and BOB BERNE: It’s important for NYU to be both We started looking in Brooklyn, helped by faculty housing. They are all going to be crucial thoughtful and deliberate about how it inter- the trends of the city and our affiliation with if we want to make the next step as an institu- acts with the local community and the built en- Poly. We have a lot going up near the health tion into the top tier of excellence. vironment in New York. It’s fair to say that over corridor on First Avenue, where Langone We know it’s going to take time to get it the years, while we’ve had a general direction Medical Center is. The community board up 188 right. So let’s get started now to plan for the of where we wanted to go from a spatial point there likes partnerships with nonprofits, 189 next two to three decades. And let’s bring in the of view, we’ve been largely opportunistic in tak- including universities. community at the beginning and invite partici- ing advantage of buildings that are for sale and pation to help shape that plan. sites that make sense, expanding in a way that BOB BERNE: If you develop any metric that mea- created the physical personality of NYU. sures space—square foot per faculty member, BOB BERNE: There’s always a love-hate relation- We’ve tried to build largely “as of right,” square foot per student, any of the metrics that ship between a community and its university. which gives us the ability to do what is allowed are typically used—NYU is off the charts on the on the particular properties we own. In fact, low end. There are some institutions that have ALICIA HURLEY ALICIA HURLEY: In 2005, when I took the job, the it minimizes the kind of interaction you need two and three more times as much space per Associate first thing handed to me was a very contentious with the local community. faculty member or per student. Vice President project where a deal had been struck by our We’ll never be anywhere but on the low and then Vice ALICIA HURLEY: President for real estate office to build a dorm on 12th Street. NYU 2031 is about trying to end of that spectrum. But we’ve been making Government The message to me was, “Alicia, go deal with understand the community dimension of what increasing investments in sciences. And science Affairs and this in the community.” we want to do for our future. It was our best is the most space-intensive of the disciplines, Community Engagement since “Thank You for effort to come up with a way forward that involving laboratories and support facilities. 2005; Director Not Hating N.Y.U.” would allow us to grow here in the Washington Science is a challenge in a nonurban of the Office of Square area, but also in other parts of the city environment. It becomes a super challenge Federal Policy from 2002–05; “I went to two or three Community Board 3 meet- in a way that’s transparent and predictable. in an urban environment. PhD, Steinhardt, ings, one worse than the next,” Hurley said…. 2003; MA, NYU has not done much work in the East BOB BERNE: Looking at the big picture and the ALICIA HURLEY: We worked with a group con- Steinhardt, 1998 Village before, and Susan Stetzer, Community next 20 or 30 years, it’s pretty clear that NYU’s vened by the Manhattan borough president’s Community members Board 3’s district manager, says the mere fact of at an NYU 2031 Hurley’s presence was something of a novelty. going to need a large amount of space. Now office for NYU, representing all sectors of the open house. “I don’t remember anyone at her level ever we’ve created a roadmap that gives us and the neighborhoods where NYU had a presence. coming down before,” Stetzer said. community a sense of where we’d like to be. About two dozen people sat around the table —SEPTEMBER 29, 2010: SARAH LASKOW, It also lets the community know that we’re and agreed on principles such as: If you’re CAPITAL NEW YORK BOB BERNE: NYU’s entrepreneurial nature, THE its location in New York, its attention to going to build big buildings, build them on bors. But it’s a town-gown situation fraught A lot of the buildings NYU has occupied many first-generation college students: It has large avenues as opposed to smaller side streets. with ongoing strain and tension. over these 175 years as a careful steward might a personality. Reuse before you build new and demolish. not still be in existence if we had not been the What we’ve done under John Sexton’s We had over 250 meetings. We had about a DAVID ROBINSON: There are always going to be owner. The buildings we use for our academics, GLOBAL leadership is build on that personality, build dozen open houses for the community, faculty, some kinds of conflict, particularly during a on Greene Street and Washington Place—those on the New York-ness. Equally important, we’ve students. For many years people could say they time of expansion. If you had told me when are 19th-century loft buildings. The Triangle NETWORK built on relationships around the world that didn’t know what NYU was doing. That was I was at NYU in 1967 that you’d have tens of Shirtwaist Factory building, enshrining a tragic will ultimately, organically, be part of what the what scared everybody and made them very thousands of applicants to the freshman class, cultural and sociological moment for New York University is and how it’s defined. nervous about the institution. But nobody can I would have called you crazy. City, is owned by NYU and used as the Brown UNIVERSITY It’s important now because the world is so say that anymore. To some extent, consulting with the com- science building. The Mews on Washington tightly connected that everything flows instan- We’re surrounded by a lot of restrictions. So munity is fine, but the community doesn’t see Square North: NYU has owned and used them taneously, whether it’s information or money it really challenges the University about where what expansion is going to do for them. They as a combination of academic buildings on the or creativity. It’s not bounded the way it was we could grow in the area. When people talk only see that it’s going to add traffic, add peo- north and residential within the Mews. Wash- even 10 years ago, and certainly not the way it about Greenwich Village, they think roman- ple: Why don’t you expand somewhere else? ington Square North: Our flagship row houses was 30 years ago. tically about the very low-scale West Village, It’s important for Greenwich Village that there are the homes of our main schools. where it’s just small brownstones. NYU be successful, but it’s important for the At the same time, we do have an obligation to JOHN SEXTON: First came our view of New York But we had owned these super blocks Village that NYU not grow. That’s very hard ask of this plan how we can be more of a contrib- City as a community of communities, with a southeast of Washington Square Park. Why to do when you have an institution for which utor to preserving what is the best in the Village neighborhood for every country—the world in not add buildings where appropriate? Do a growth is exciting. and being in partnership with our community miniature. Combined with Gallatin’s view of lot of below-ground building, such as large to help get that right. Especially if trust has NYU’s being in and of the city, we began to see auditoriums, music performance spaces. On BOB BERNE: It’s often forgotten that in 1976, been tested in the past, it’s going to take many DICK FOLEY: New York City is as international an the lack of a secluded campus as an asset, a the southernmost block, Coles gym, which has when the city was at its lowest ebb and then moments of proving that the trust is well placed. environment as you can imagine. And NYU is way to offer our students an education in the 190 served us very well, is now outdated. So taking began its resurgence, we began our resurgence. It doesn’t mean that what everybody hears rooted in New York City. complexity of the world. 191 that and building a new gym—and being able to We have contributed intellectual capital. We’ve in this dialogue is going to be accepted or Early in our time and then since 1970, we With that mission, we wanted our students build academic and housing space up top. contributed physical space. We’ve contributed approved. That’s an unrealistic goal. But what it emphasized our ties to New York in a way that not only to engage with the many intersecting At some point, we’re going to have to build jobs and lots of things to the local community. does mean is that we have to approach the com- other universities in this city did not. The con- cultures of New York City, but to give them the on what is essentially land we already own in munity with mutual respect, with a willingness nection with New York City is built into NYU. I experience of living in the world where those the middle of the area in Greenwich Village. We LYNNE BROWN: Greenwich Village, like all to listen, to change our minds from time to see us exporting that connection throughout complex cultures are. can’t keep accomplishing academic excellence neighborhoods in New York, is very dynamic. time when what we hear is a good idea—and the world. on the backs of our community. And we’ve It grows, it changes. When I came here in 1982, good ideas do flow in both directions. JAY OLIVA: Overseas programs had always been asked a lot of the community. Lower Broadway didn’t look the way Lower I don’t think we’re there yet. But I hope what HARVEY STEDMAN: When I got here in the ’80s, restricted to people who either really didn’t Now it is time for us to say: We take some of Broadway does now. And Bond Street didn’t the community sees is a willingness to try. “becoming more national” was what everybody know what they were going to do or were this on ourselves. look the way Bond Street is looking now. NoHo was talking about. Now we think about prepar- involved in that culture. They were studying had a different character, and so did Sixth The planning for the University’s space ing people to live in a global society. We’re trying French culture, so going to France was fine. But ROSCOE BROWN: Architects dream big and they Avenue. NYU’s part of that dynamism, but that growth began in 2007 with NYU 2031, ROSCOE to extend an interest in being in and of the city if you wanted to go to law school or become a should. But people have to live here. The plans dynamism goes on apart from NYU as well. which underwent many successive iter- BROWN to being in and of the world—not as an extension doctor, you said, “I don’t know if I can leave.” have to fit in with the community. There’s So I don’t think the goal should be: Don’t ations over the course of several years Director of the of New York, but a rethinking of New York. Opening up the opportunities to be both glob- Institute of Afro- always a push-pull. change a thing and hearken back to a lost history. as comments were solicited from NYU’s American Affairs al and professional: That’s the key. The old ju- But how do you preserve the best? How do internal community, as well as from a from 1969–76; ULI BAER: NYU never thought of itself as a mon- nior year abroad programs were really time out. EMILY FOLPE: NYU has tremendous physical im- you become a contributor to the attraction of range of community and preservation Professor of astery, where you’re removed from the world The global initiative means pursuing what you Education from pact on Village life. They are the largest single Greenwich Village, its artistic and cultural and organizations, urban planners, and other 1950–76; PhD, and you undertake your scholarly pursuit. really want to do in a different environment— presence here, the largest single employer. intellectual aspects? civic groups. One component of the plan— Steinhardt, 1951; Here, you’re supposed to run into people all the but with the same ability to make progress in What’s interesting, of course, is that many There’s an element of a university’s owning to build on the superblocks in what is MA, Steinhardt, time, by default—because we don’t have enough your studies, not just hang out for a little while 1949 people who are part of that NYU community buildings that actually is a protector and a the core area of NYU on property real estate to have a sprawling campus. People to study French culture in English, visit the may also object to what the University is doing. safeguard against some development. We have already owned by the University—required come to NYU who have high tolerance for this Chartres Cathedral, and then come on home. Hopefully, there is some balance. And maybe been conservators as well. extensive city approvals, which were idea that people from different backgrounds, New York University’s at the leadership of the University will listen a little bit to neigh- secured in 2012. different places, are jostled in one space. that vision. them to talk about it. I learned that while we have to be educating people who are comfort- had racism in our country, at least our African able in the world outside the US, is absolutely American students know about it, know the spot on. level and degree. But they’re not quite certain about racism in other areas of the world. So ULI BAER: But the faculty has to be brought to that was an obstacle. a place where they understand the complexity In another focus group I held, I realized that of running and managing a physical plant, stu- our premed students were very reluctant to go dent services, student life, hiring and appoint- NYU DEGREE-GRANTING CAMPUSES abroad. There it was easy to find out the rea- ing faculty, having contracts, being legally com- New York, US sons. They were afraid that the premed courses pliant, having ministry of education approval, Abu Dhabi, UAE we were teaching abroad might not be exactly and getting students in on the right visa. Shanghai, China comparable in quality to NYU courses here—for NYU ACADEMIC CENTERS example, organic chemistry, which we taught LINDA MILLS: As we moved throughout the Accra, Ghana Berlin, Germany only in London. globe, we started to see the ways that health Buenos Aires, Argentina We gave it time and attention. We brought and mental health were implicated. When Florence, Italy the faculty we hired to teach organic chemis- students went from New York to Ghana, we London, England Madrid, Spain try there to New York to be interviewed by the were still responsible for them. Paris, France department of chemistry and biology here. Now Prague, Czech Republic you can take Organic I in London and Organic II BOB KIVETZ: I chair a committee on fire and Sydney, Australia Tel Aviv, Israel in New York City. life safety, which has members of the global Washington, DC, US As someone who was born overseas, in Teh- team, the facilities team, our fire and life safety ran, to a very international family, I understand personnel, our legal counsel. Whenever we’re how important it is to be put in the other looking at new properties the global sites bring 192 person’s shoes. The only way to do this is to go to us, we assess them for safety. Do they have 193 DIANE YU: When John came into office, we After we decided we were going to make it theater. Florence was art and the EU. Prague was abroad and live there. It’s part of our values as sprinklers? Do they have smoke detectors? Do started looking at the whole global picture a priority to drive up the percentage of our music and journalism and transitional govern- an international global university in the most they have alarm systems? much more seriously. He had had great success students who went away for at least one semes- ment. Accra was public health and economic global city in the world. in developing the global law program at the ter, it didn’t take long to notice that we were development. And Shanghai was business. BÉATRICE LONGUENESSE: NYU’s motto—“a law school, the first of its kind in the country, Eurocentric. So we asked Yaw Nyarko to begin to BÉATRICE ELLYN TOSCANO: The philosophy stems from an private University in the public service”—is which was what I was pooh-poohing when I develop additional sites. We didn’t forbid him FARHAD KAZEMI: But the moment you begin to LONGUENESSE intuitive belief that we benefit from not only not an easy one to honor. The task is made Professor of first met him. from starting additional sites in Europe—indeed, expand our international activities overseas, all Philosophy reading about but experiencing and under- even more complex by NYU’s going global. He then introduced some of these concepts he started Berlin—but he also started looking at kinds of issues come up. since 2004 standing another culture through living it. One of the major attractions of NYU is the idea to the University—and one of the linchpins Shanghai and Accra and Buenos Aires. I was the vice provost when the 9/11 tragedy What is that benefit, besides the obvious one of of a university that does not retreat into the was expanding the number of undergraduate We began to drive up the numbers by making took place. We couldn’t reach anybody overseas. being aware and hopefully more sympathetic pristine safety of a campus but is smack in the global sites. some important changes. We wanted to make it I was so afraid that the name of New York to people who come from a different way of life middle of a world capital. Such a situation as easy for a student to choose a continent as it University would be a problem for our students than we do? creates staggering costs, but also unique JOHN SEXTON: Once we hit upon the notion of was to choose a course. And we wanted to make abroad. Eventually, we went through the State There’s a way in which living in another opportunities and responsibilities. NYU as a global network university, there were it possible for students to move fluidly through Department to reach the heads of our various culture helps students learn very fundamental Both features are true, with a vengeance, some assets that were clear. About 45 years the system. sites and told them to be super careful. things about themselves and their own culture. of the global research university. earlier, our Spanish department had opened That meant that they had to be able to get There are other issues. We are a very open From a remove, from being in Italy and putting a study abroad site for Spanish majors in their gen-ed requirements done. It meant that, university. We accept everybody, no matter themselves in a culture they are not so familiar By 2010, NYU had opened study away Madrid. About 10 years after that, our French at least at some of the sites, premed kids or what his or her race or sexual orientation. with, they begin to see more clearly the things programs in Madrid (1958), Paris (1969), department had opened in Paris. Jay and John Tisch kids would have to be able to advance in a Other places in the world are not quite as open. that define them in their own culture. Florence (1995), Prague (1998), London Brademas had secured the Villa La Pietra gift. specialized curriculum, or that Stern kids would I realized that many of our minority students, (1999), Accra (2004), Berlin (2006), We also had programs in London and Prague. be able to move through their curriculum. especially African Americans, were very reluc- PETER LENNIE: It’s an expensive proposition to Shanghai (2006), Buenos Aires (2008), But only about 7 percent of our students, many At the same time, we began to develop at each tant to go to our sites overseas. And I couldn’t be a university with your feet everywhere. The Tel Aviv (2009), and Abu Dhabi (2010)— of them language majors, were going abroad of the sites academic personalities that would figure out why. underlying driver, however, the idea that uni- with Sydney and Washington, DC, to come for a semester. attract students. London was economics and So I commissioned a focus group and asked versities have to be globally engaged, that they in 2012. DAVE MCLAUGHLIN: Another aspect of our inter- he said relevance to the real world. But he said national program that is complementary to one other interesting thing: He wanted the NYU our students’ studying abroad is that so many Steinhardt School to be on the edge of where UNBOUND of our students themselves come from abroad, things are beginning to happen. at the undergraduate level and primarily at the graduate level. Those students completely ELLEN SCHALL: The Wagner School tracked change the complexion of our local campus. the University in terms of local to national to DICK FOLEY: A student who is interested in Why does it matter to a student? To be suc- If you’re not really changed or if you’re only global. In addition to having about 30 percent international relations can spend part of his or cessful, however you define success in this new cognitively changed—because you now have MARY MARY BRABECK: Students at the Steinhardt of our students specialize in international her academic study in New York, another part world, whether it’s personal satisfaction or the more information—then I wouldn’t consider BRABECK School come from all over the country and the development, we’ve recently decided that all of in Shanghai, and another part in Buenos Aires. ability to make a difference in the increasingly that a cosmopolitan experience. Dean of the Stein- world. And they come knowing that this is not our students need to have a global perspective hardt School since A student who’s interested in comparative art complicated world we’re living in now, one One of the real challenges of education 2003; Professor of a school like every other school. We don’t all by the time they graduate. can spend time in New York, time in Paris, time needs to be culturally competent and culturally abroad is that many students remain enclosed Applied Psychology wear the same colored T-shirts. We’re united It turns out that about half of Wagner in Berlin. confidant. NYU is committed to preparing that within a kind of bubble. It is very hard to have a at Steinhardt since by the arts more than by sports. We’re a school students lived in another country before 2003 generation of leaders. cosmopolitan experience, given the American that attracts students who thrive on the energy they came and about half of them speak two CAROL JESS BENHABIB: Right now the student move- propensity to not learn foreign languages. MANDEL in this fabulous city. They want to bring their languages. Our commitment, both at the ment across the globe is very impressive. The CAROL MANDEL: I’ve often said, When you don’t We have an image of moving from place to Dean of NYU energy to New York and to the global society curricular and extracurricular level, was to give next stage is to develop the movement of ideas, have any laurels to rest on, you don’t have place. But I think you go to a place and become Libraries since they are about to enter. people the tools to think about the forces that 1999 the movement of faculty. Because being in the anything to protect. You can only go forward. I a part of that place for a while. As fully as This is a student body that is looking for shape whatever issue they care about, whether 194 same spot for collaborating is very important. think people are very attracted to the opportu- you can. more—more culture, more art, more engage- it’s housing or health or education or the 195 nity to innovate. ment. They want to go to one more theater environment. To make sure they know how to MATTHEW SANTIROCCO: The key word is network. They’re certainly attracted to the concept TONY JUDT: It’s no secret that I’m one of nature’s event, one more place to listen to some of the look for best practices and innovation, not just We talked about ourselves as a global university and reality of the global network university, to cynics. When you use the word global, I imme- great minds talking with them about the big- in other American cities but across the globe, for a long time. But all that meant is that we that creativity and energy. diately roll my eyes. On the other hand, I am gest and most pressing problems of the world. and to be able to work across multiple cultures. had a lot of sites abroad. “Global university” Everybody wants to be here. actually very much in favor of exactly what When Michael Steinhardt and I met for the Wagner’s really trying to figure out how to be just meant going to another place. people mean if they’re serious about global first time, before I became the dean of the Stein- a global school of public service. “Network” implies something much more BILL BERKLEY: We weren’t going to be a great education, a sense that it’s no longer possible to hardt School, I asked him what he wanted of sophisticated. It implies horizontal and vertical place if we were just sitting in New York. We’d think of being educated as simply being raised his school. Of course he said quality. Of course forms of integration, movement in multiple be a good university. Maybe even a very good in and knowing only the language, the culture, directions. It implies not just students’ study university. But if we wanted to be a leading the history of your country. abroad sites, but research, faculty, and all university, we had to change. It’s obviously true if you’re Dutch or Danish, aspects of the University moving as a synchro- Universities are slow to change. NYU has been but it’s just as true now if you’re American. nous whole. able to change in far better ways than most of ANG LEE: If I were recruiting a faculty member, as our peers. Sometimes I feel like I’m at a vantage GLOBAL I’ve done for the past few years in Abu Dhabi point. Some days I feel like I’m in limbo. But and now will for Shanghai or even for the TOM BENDER: I believe that cosmopolitanism is that’s our world. It is definitely getting smaller, AT THE Square, I’d tell them, “Don’t think that you are not an analytical category that fits into political more convenient. It’s easier to reach out. becoming a citizen of a university with a single theory or any other theory. Rather, it is a form For my first movie I was here in New York, in location. You’re a citizen of a global network of experience. Riverdale. I came here to do postproduction. SQUARE university. Yes, you have tenure. Yes, much of And it is a self-reflexive experience. That is, My next movie I’m going to be in Taiwan, India, your teaching and research is located in one you must be changed by the experience of differ- with the music probably being in London. My place. But you can move now. And it may make ence. Not only learn about difference, but then visual effects crew could be in New Zealand. more sense for your research projects to be ask critical questions of yourself as a result. That’s how people are doing it now. pursued elsewhere.” NYU ABU DHABI FROM HUB )6,;873- TO NETWORK

YAW NYARKO: I see the NYU Abu Dhabi campus as the natural evolution of all that NYU is doing.

HILARY BALLON: Before, we had the hub-and- spoke model, with students based in New York, then going out to these sites. But they would DIANE YU: In 2006-07, we were actively looking all come back to New York. to have a campus or at least a study away site in 196 NYU’s first The creation of NYU Abu Dhabi was a signif- the Gulf region. Through a number of contacts, 197 home in downtown icant step beyond the study away site, because we discovered that the United Arab Emirates Abu Dhabi. NYU Abu Dhabi would recruit students of its were looking for a possible higher education own and grant a degree of its own. partner. They were thinking about ways to With Abu Dhabi, we began to see a new mod- modernize and upgrade their own higher YAW NYARKO el developing. That was the first step in shifting education system. Vice Provost for to the network paradigm. They contacted quite a few very prestigious Globalization universities to talk to them about their ambi- and Multicultur- FARHAD KAZEMI: al Affairs from MARIËT We have perhaps the most dis- tions. We were one. 2002–07; Profes- WESTERMANN tinguished program in the country on the Mid- sor of Economics Provost of NYU dle East. In the time between Jay’s last year and LINDA MILLS: When I worked in the office of the since 1998; Pro- Abu Dhabi from fessor at NYU Abu 2009–10; Special when John was coming on board, we knew we provost, my office was next to Yaw Nyarko’s. He Dhabi since 2010; Assistant to the needed to have some presence in that region. received the first contact from the Abu Dhabi Founding Director President for NYU government. of Africa House Abu Dhabi and JOHN SEXTON: since 2002 Vice Chancellor for In about 2005, you looked at the I didn’t even know where Abu Dhabi was. I Regional Campus picture of NYU’s sites and global presence, and can’t believe that’s true, but it really is. HILARY Development from clearly absent was the Arab and Muslim world. BALLON 2007–09; Profes- MARIËT WESTERMANN: Associate Vice sor of Fine Arts We asked ourselves, “Can you be the ecumeni- We had heard rumblings Chancellor and at the Institute cal university we want to be and not be in about Abu Dhabi as a possible study abroad then Deputy Vice of Fine Arts from that world?” site. We heard about the Crown Prince, Sheikh Chancellor of NYU 2002–10 (Director Abu Dhabi since of the institute The answer was clearly: You could not. Mohamed bin Zayed. We heard stories about 2007; Professor from 2002–08); The second question was, “Is it possible to Yaw Nyarko having put his ear to the ground in of Urban Studies PhD, Institute of be in the Arab and Muslim world? Is there any the Gulf after he had opened the study abroad and Architecture Fine Arts, 1997; at Wagner since MA, Institute of partner to do it?” site in Ghana and a whole bunch of others. We 2007 Fine Arts, 1989 That’s how the Abu Dhabi project grew. knew he was on the lookout. BOB BERNE: In Abu Dhabi, with all the issues BOB BERNE: There was a lot at stake, anxious- BOB BERNE: There has been a lot of negotiation that were on the table—academic freedom and ness and hope on both sides. Everyone there, since then. But there really are times when you workers’ rights, issues around safety in the those of us from NYU and those from the Emir- can say, “This was the moment.” Emirates—we began to work with the highest ates, was observing this conversation between levels, specifically the Crown Prince and his John and the Crown Prince, and of course no- HILARY BALLON: They chose NYU because there senior staff, to brainstorm about what this body could hear it. But if you were a reasonably was a perfect match between the enormous institution might look like. good judge of body language, you could tell ambition of the emirate of Abu Dhabi to That led to an initial meeting with a delega- that they were connecting—that John felt NYU advance itself through education and the tion of us, but really it was John’s opportunity could bring something special to Abu Dhabi, ambition of NYU and John Sexton to make a to spend some time with the Crown Prince. and that the Crown Prince felt in John that this game-changing move. It was probably the most amazing meeting was a leader and partner whom he could trust The creation of the global network was I’ve ever attended in my decades at NYU. and work with. that move.

John Sexton met HH Crown Prince Sheikh JOHN SEXTON: I proposed the idea for a study JOHN SEXTON: We walked out to the car Mohamed bin Zayed at a majlis—an away site. together at the end of the meeting, and I put audience that takes place in a special Then he said to me, “I know of your writing out my hand to shake his hand. hall where anyone who has reserved about a world of idea capitals. I want Abu He looked at me and he said, “Where is in advance can speak with the Crown Dhabi to be the idea capital in this region of my hug?” Prince. The room held scores of people, the world. And I don’t think a study away site So, to the shock of everyone there—because but the conversation took place off to the would do that. Is there a way to think bigger they all thought I initiated it—we hugged. side, privately. about what we do here? Is there a way to think of having a full presence of NYU here? I would JOHN SEXTON: It was suggested—impossible as give you the dream of creating the ideal re- 198 this might be to understand—that this kid from search university from scratch. How would you 199 HH Crown Prince the streets of Brooklyn and the grandson and do it if you could do it from the beginning?” Sheikh Mohamed son of Bedouin leaders would really take to We began to speak of its being not simply a bin Zayed and each other. We were told that if we could get to study away site but a comprehensive campus, as John Sexton. Abu Dhabi and go to the majlis, a convening of New York is a comprehensive campus. the court where any citizen can come and bring I said, “I think it would be possible. It never to the Crown Prince a suggestion or an issue, we has been done. It would be hard. But if we were would have 15 minutes at 6 pm on Sunday. good partners to each other, it could happen.” As we’re going there, they say to me, “Now, So he said, “What is your greatest fear about it?” listen. No hugs. This is a formal setting. You’re And I said, “Well, my greatest fear is that going to walk into this room and don’t even either you or I will compromise excellence.” shake hands unless the Crown Prince offers He said, “Well, I won’t disappoint you if you you his hand.” don’t disappoint me.” So we walked into a fairly large room, and around the perimeter of the room are sheiks in their traditional white garb. No one in the 2006 center of the room. The Crown Prince got up from across the room and walked toward me. We met in the middle, and he put out his hand. THE MAJLIS We shook hands. He led me over, we sat down on a couch, and we began to talk. JOHN SEXTON AND THE CROWN PRINCE Hilary Ballon talks MARIËT WESTERMANN: The Crown Prince had to education and support good students in their with students in drive it. His vision was this: Our young people studies abroad. Abu Dhabi. certainly want for nothing when it comes to When I came back and then started working, food and housing and the ability to travel. and now, as a servant of the government, the tar- Health care is nationally mandated. Then why, get is far reaching—to provide the highest quality when they want an opportunity to study, to education for our children and our students. engage in sports in a serious way, to have access to top-quality surgery, do they have to HILARY BALLON: A prevailing model in the go abroad? Shouldn’t we be thinking about a national universities and throughout the BLUEPRINT: time beyond oil when we won’t automatically region is preprofessional training. Students be able to pay for this? Should we not be diver- decide at the moment they enter what their sifying our economy, while at the same time career will be—and that’s what they study. BUILDING KHALDOON AL developing our young generation in a way that When we interviewed students, one of the MUBARAK they can drive that economy? really moving aspects is that they tell you in Member of the THE TEAM The Crown Prince understood, as a graduate their own words what a liberal arts education NYU Board of Trustees since of Sandhurst, that it takes a really strong edu- means to them. They may not evoke that phrase 2008 WINTER 2007 cational system, that you do need leadership exactly, but they say they don’t want to go to universities, quite apart from workforce devel- the university in their home country because opment institutions such as higher colleges of they would have to decide what they wanted to MARIËT WESTERMANN: John had come to me in technology, which have done a very good job in do before they know what it is. And that they February 2007, very soon after his wife, Lisa, HILARY BALLON: I had been uptown at Columbia Abu Dhabi. want to open their minds, to discover things died. [In January, Lisa Goldberg had died sud- University, where I spent my entire academic From the start, he was on the same page they don’t yet know. denly, at 54, of a brain aneurysm.] He said, “I career, for 22 years. I was enthralled by that as John about building a really high-quality That’s why they want to come to NYU want you to help think about it, to be involved.” university. But it seemed like a once-in-a-life- 200 institution. Abu Dhabi. NYU Abu Dhabi was clearly something John time opportunity—to be involved at the very 201 would pour himself into. And he did so incredi- beginning in planning a new university. KHALDOON AL MUBARAK: When I was born, the bly impressively in response to that great loss. Mariët, knowing of my background in objectives for my country were to provide a But I needed a sounding board, someone who architecture and planning, invited me to take seat for every student in a high school or a could integrate the curriculum and develop responsibility for the development of our primary school. And when I was in high school, the physical plant. So I told John that the first facilities and to ensure that they would fulfill the focus became to provide undergraduate thing I wanted to do, which would be a good our academic vision. That drew me here. thing for the University even if we never signed an agreement with Abu Dhabi, was to recruit MARIËT WESTERMANN: I had to open in three Hilary Ballon. years. That gave me an absolute stomachache. I knew Hilary well, as the chair of the only program that really competes with the Institute HILARY BALLON: It all had to happen simultane- of Fine Arts, Columbia’s program in art and ously. BEYOND archaeology. Hilary is an architectural historian who had done significant planning work in In September 2007, Hilary Ballon was the real world, both for the campus and in her appointed deputy vice chancellor for NYU various scholarly and civic enterprises. Abu Dhabi. The following month, Mariët In this digital era, you have to keep remem- Westermann was named vice chancellor. bering that universities are also physical places OIL: where people gather. When you think of your own education, you tend to remember the build- ings you were in, where you had conversations. <0->1;1767. I knew that Hilary could be a very good ABU DHABI partner in translating the vision into a physical place. “LOTS OF CONVERSATIONS” RESISTANCE AND :-+-8<1>1Swarthmore College. He brought a great deal of [John], somebody from a Jewish background, on the environment, since Abu Dhabi has made credibility and stature. People recognized that and somebody from an Islamic background all very significant investments in renewable this was going to be a serious academic venture. joining together for a stronger university. energy, thinking about how to be sustainable in I’m really convinced they want this. That’s AL BLOOM: I had taught at Swarthmore for 12 a post-oil economy. Al Bloom, Vice AL one of the main reasons I took the job. We created another multidisciplinary con- HARVEY STEDMAN: I run back and forth between Chancellor of BLOOM years and served as president for 17. It was time centration on urbanization, because Abu Dhabi New York and Abu Dhabi. When I have a ques- NYU Abu Dhabi. Vice Chancel- for me to become more adventurous. I wanted RON ROBIN: I’m probably the most unlikely lor of NYU Abu is a relatively fast-growing place with very tion, I tend to say, “Remind me what we usually Dhabi since so badly to contribute to education of the most person to be involved in NYU Abu Dhabi, striking urban ambitions. It’s a great laboratory do.” Because in my life I always think: What do 2009 rigorous, demanding quality—an education because I’m Israeli. I was born in Israel and of city planning. And it’s also a hop, skip, and a we usually do? Then I think: What do our three that hones those skills and applies them to the went to the Hebrew University, where I studied jump from some of the explosive urban regions main competitors do about the same topic? creation of a better world. history and romance languages. I did a PhD in in the world, whether in East Africa or in the Then we can figure out what we might do next. RON And I really hoped to be able to do that in an American history at Berkeley and taught at the ROBIN Indian subcontinent. But I’ve stopped asking, because everyone Senior Vice Pro- international rather than primarily a domestic University of Haifa for about 20 years. gets this smile on their face to remind me that vost for Planning way. Then I decided to see what the world was like there is no usual. This is the first time we’ve since 2009; Senior and found my way here as academic dean at Vice Provost of done anything. We are the pioneers. Four hours after the release of the announcement NYU Steinhardt. New York was paramount in NYU Abu Dhabi that I would step down came a call from NYU. since 2009; As- I was surprised and delighted that the President my decision. And Steinhardt is a very eclectic sociate Dean for wanted me to consider taking responsibility for place. Academic Affairs developing the new campus…. He said “I think In the global network university, we’re doing DEVELOPING from 2006–09; \RXZLOO¿QGWKLVRIIHULUUHVLVWLEOH´«DQG,KDYH Professor of Me- found it irresistible. things nobody else has ever done. You try to dia, Culture, and make a comparison, which is the way you de- Communication at —OCTOBER 2, 2008: LAUREN STOKES, Steinhardt since “PRESIDENT BLOOM TO LEAD NYU ABU DHABI,” scribe things to people. You say, “We’re like—” A CURRICULUM SWARTHMORE COLLEGE DAILY GAZETTE 2004 Well, actually, we’re like nobody. Hats off to the faculty who signed on in the beginning, smitten with a vision and the oppor- tunity we presented that was very compelling FACULTY: and continues to be, to be part of something new, to shape, to build. THE CHALLENGES We were looking for people who had that adventurous gene, who didn’t need or want to follow the trodden path.

HILARY BALLON: A founding principle of NYU JESS BENHABIB: But there were skeptics. When Abu Dhabi was that it was not an autonomous John tried to introduce the idea that he wanted entity but part of NYU. The phrase John used to build a research university in Abu Dhabi, my over and over again, which hopefully seeped first reaction was to go to him and say, “Are you into the consciousness of everyone involved, crazy? It can’t be done.” was, “We need to build an organic connection.” I grew up in Turkey. In elementary school, it So faculty composition was key to that was inconceivable for my teachers to ask me, structural connection between New York and “What do you think?” Our attitude was, “What Abu Dhabi. Part of the faculty would be new do you mean? You’re the teacher.” faculty—the group we call the standing faculty, Then I got converted. At some point, when we because they’re a standing presence in Abu were going from one department to the other Dhabi. But also and forever we would have New to explain, I became an advocate. York-based faculty who would go to teach in The most compelling reason was, “Because Abu Dhabi. they want us to help them change something in We didn’t know what to expect at all. their country.” 207 It was not an obvious job for candidates. Many wrote back to me and said, “This was We had a place where there was no there what convinced me.” there yet. We didn’t even have buildings, let alone students or colleagues. It was quite a forbidding challenge.

Left: Professor Yaw Nyarko.

Right: Fabio Piano, provost of NYU Abu Dhabi. John Sexton teach- ing his government and religion class. 6A= ABU DHABI 16;<1<=<- 2008 SHEIKH MOHAMED BIN ZAYED SCHOLARS PROGRAM

SPRING 2008 MARIËT WESTERMANN: By this time, I was travel- ing at least a week a month to Abu Dhabi. We figured that even though we weren’t opening DIANE YU: In April 2008, John came to me with a for three years, we should begin to show some proposition. A few months earlier, His Highness activity on the ground. had asked NYU to create a program that would Hilary and I worked out the idea of creating enrich the lives of students enrolled in UAE uni- 208 what we ended up calling the NYU Abu Dhabi versities who would not be attending NYU Abu 209 Institute, a vehicle for faculty from NYU to Dhabi. This idea became the Sheikh Mohamed come to Abu Dhabi, give talks, and host work- Scholars Program. shops and seminars with local faculty whom The first class met on September 14, 2008. we’d begun to get to know in our travels. John was more excited and more nervous than I’d ever seen him because it was the first time YAW NYARKO: Think of the institute as the he had taught in that country. It was a smash- research arm of the NYU Abu Dhabi campus. ing success—once they could understand his Brooklyn accent. He taught a course, and still MARIËT WESTERMANN: Faculty could learn teaches it, on the relationship between govern- something about Abu Dhabi by being there. ment and religion. He uses unedited Supreme They and their colleagues here thought they Court decisions as a means of educating the In September 2008, John Sexton taught could never utter the word “homosexuality.” students on the Free Exercise and Establish- the course “The Relationship of Gov- Or the word “Israel.” They would realize it was ment Clauses of the First Amendment. ernment and Religion” to the Sheikh not true. It’s a very eye-opening class. Students learn Mohamed Scholars at NYU Abu Dhabi. At the same time, we would begin to show about critical thinking, how to debate a point, For 16 class meetings over the academ- the Crown Prince’s advisors and the people how to support their views with arguments ic year, he would fly from New York City charged with overseeing the project with us the and evidence. They learn how to rebut other on Friday evening to arrive in Abu Dhabi value of having a university as an intellectual people’s arguments they feel are insufficiently on Saturday, teach on Sunday, and return entity. supported. They first encounter the newness to New York City on Monday morning. He So the institute could become a wonderful of being in a mixed-gender class. They’re being continues to teach the seminar to the two-way lens. taught by very Western methods that involve Sheikh Mohamed Scholars and, since this engagement—debate, active student partic- 2010, has taught a seminar to NYU Abu ipation, faculty asking them for their views. Dhabi undergraduates also titled “The It’s been quite an education. Relationship of Government and Religion.” POST OFFICE HILARY BALLON: Saadiyat is a natural sand Rendering of OR island in Abu Dhabi, in the Persian Gulf. We Saadiyat Island. were not originally going to be located there. FISH But the island was the prestige project of the Emirate, with plans to build a branch of the MARKET? Guggenheim and the Louvre. To signal the commitment at the highest THE DOWNTOWN level of the government to this university, the CAMPUS decision was made to build on Saadiyat Island. Then we had a search for an architect to do the master plan for the campus. A team of folks HILARY BALLON: It was going to take quite a from New York with a team of people from Abu while to construct the bigger campus. Having Dhabi interviewed five firms in Abu Dhabi, the announced that this university would be built, outcome of which was the selection of Rafael it seemed important to launch it sooner rather Viñoly Architects to do the plan. than later. There isn’t going to be a sector for class- rooms, a sector for student residences, and MARIËT WESTERMANN: I knew that the campus then a sector for faculty. The urban concept of had to be attractive, even if it was temporary. mixed-use buildings: That’s what our campus I wanted an NYU-type entity downtown. will be.

HILARY BALLON: We were shown two sites in AL BLOOM: When you start looking at the 210 Abu Dhabi. One was an abandoned post office. architecture planned for the Louvre, the 211 The other was the site of the old fish market. Guggenheim, the Zayed National Museum, or I still can remember vividly visiting both the performing arts center, and you see their sites with John. The fish market site was placement at the end of the harbor, I don’t completely surrounded by Abu Dhabi towers think it’s an exaggeration to say that this will from the 1980s and ’90s. be a 21st-century acropolis. When we got to that site, John said, “This is in and of the city. This is it.” It was very small, nothing compared to the TOWARD beautiful, fully developed campuses we were going to compete with for students. We were going after students who were turning down Harvard and Princeton and Amherst and Williams and Oxbridge—and the splendid SAADIYAT environments those universities offer. But the magic of the fish market campus was that it’s so intimate. There’s a spirit about ISLAND the place fostered by the faculty, students, and administration, everyone knowing everyone by first name.

NYU Abu Dhabi’s Downtown Campus opened its doors in December 2009. The first class of students would begin in September 2010. CHOOSING HILARY BALLON: The applicants invited for our provide for students ways of thinking about city Candidate Weekends are, in effect, short-listed. life, its relation to modern life, that they can THE AL BLOOM: As we’ve given talks from Shanghai They look highly admissible on paper, but we then take to other cities, whether Abu Dhabi, to Buenos Aires, from Prague to Nigeria and want the opportunity to see them close up. And Shanghai, Paris, or London. Ghana, from Jordan to New York to Seattle, and we want them to have the opportunity to look Building NYU Abu Dhabi from scratch is an spoken about the importance of liberal arts at us close up because we don’t want any buyer’s incredible intellectual adventure. It’s probably education, we’re always warned that people remorse. We want our students, once they’re the most exciting and most significant scholarly FIRST might see it as dilettantish rather than serious, there, to be happy. Abu Dhabi is not for everyone. and pedagogical experience I’m likely to have. in the sense that a professional education CLASS seems very serious. LINDA MILLS: I start all the Candidate Week- NYUAD Announces Inaugural Class The reaction has been exactly opposite. Coun- ends by asking them to bring an object that 150 Top Secondary School Students From selors, principals, students embraced the sense represents home. What I use as an example are 39 Countries to Comprise NYUAD Class that liberal arts education is the necessary wave my diamond earrings, which were smuggled of 2014 of the future. out of Austria by my grandmother during the NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) announced today that Holocaust. 150 students from 39 countries on six continents LINDA MILLS: The Institute of International That sets the tone for the serious, thoughtful, DUHH[SHFWHGWRPDNHXSLWV¿UVWIUHVKPDQFODVV Education was crucially useful in being able but also paradoxical experience of the week- which will begin studies this fall. The admissions process was highly competitive, and yielded a to reach out to counselors, identify the key end: What’s this Jewish woman doing standing FODVV ZLWK H[FHSWLRQDO DFDGHPLF TXDOL¿FDWLRQV opinion makers, and bring them to the table in front of us? We’re in Abu Dhabi. with SAT scores that rank the school in the top six for meetings. Al and I had to convince the It establishes the complexity from the begin- of US universities. 212 counselors that this was a good idea, so that ning. Overall, 189 students were accepted out of 9,048 213 they would nominate their best students. applicants worldwide (an acceptance rate of 2.1 HILARY BALLON: The weekends are what make percent). LINDA MILLS: RON ROBIN: It’s 2009, and we’re asking the The concept is very clear. No matter the idea of NYU Abu Dhabi click in a way that —PRESS RELEASE, JUNE 21, 2010 question, “Can we really build the momentum what you aspire to do when you grow up, you nothing else we say does. Each group, 60 to 90 for the most outstanding students in the world have to have two significant attributes. You have students, comes from almost as many countries BOB BERNE: It’s fair to say the first class looks to coming to NYU in Abu Dhabi?” to have a broad education. A curious engineer and from every section of those countries’ so- be as good a first class as any institution could One of the people who ratified this idea from is much better than a monofocal engineer. And cieties. They come from major urban areas and hope for anywhere. The faculty should be up the beginning was Allan Goodman, president of a curious scientist, who knows poetry, who has remote villages; many board a plane for the first to the challenge of working with them. The the Institute of International Education, the IIE. an understanding of history, who has seen the time when they come to Candidate Weekends. students and the faculty will feel like pioneers, They oversee the Fulbright program and much world through the eyes of an artist, will be a The candidates realize what it would be like to because they’re establishing something that more. We started to talk about how would we significantly better scientist than one who’s CYRUS be in classrooms like that year round, with all hopefully will have a long, long life. do outreach for this complicated idea. spent her years just doing biology. PATELL these different perspectives. There will never be another first class of Associate Dean of The second point is leadership. We go through Humanities at NYU faculty and students. AL BLOOM: Even if you had more resources a very rigorous selection process when we bring Abu Dhabi since CYRUS PATELL: To me, that’s at the heart of the available than most people to begin a universi- the finalists to Abu Dhabi. We look at people’s 2010; Associate project: Difference is always conceived as an JOHN SEXTON: We didn’t know if we could Professor of En- ty, how are you going to get the best students, intellectual capacities, but we also look at them glish since 1993 opportunity, something to be embraced. do it. We almost delayed a year, thinking we the best faculty, and the best researchers in the as people. I’m a native New Yorker. My father was a couldn’t recruit a class of the highest quality world to come to Abu Dhabi? Parsi from Pakistan. My mother was from the from around the world on such short notice. During Candidate Weekend, groups of Philippines. They met up at Columbia Univer- But Linda convinced me we could do it. And she LINDA MILLS: We asked high school students all prospective students take sample class- Participants at a sity. I really identified not with either national made it happen. over the world, “What American university is es, engage in one-on-one discussions 2009 NYU Lead- tradition, but with the idea of being mixed. the most famous to you?” with NYU Abu Dhabi leadership and fac- ership Conference And the idea of being a New Yorker. BOB BERNE: My feeling is that we’re off to a visiting Abu Dha- NYU was a front runner. We felt emboldened ulty, explore Abu Dhabi, and experience bi’s Sheikh Zayed The first course I taught in Abu Dhabi was fabulous start. by that. life in NYU Abu Dhabi’s global community. Grand Mosque. on New York and modernity. We’re trying to QUESTIONS AND OBSTACLES:

DUNCAN RICE: NYU is about ambition. So the the risk in a culture that’s different from your statement that the president of the institution, own? What’s the risk in an area of the world ACADEMIC who would normally be expected to be half where there’s a lot of instability? You don’t have dead from stress and overwork, feels so strongly to be a rocket scientist to figure out that this about globalismus that he’s willing to push him- was not a slam dunk. FREEDOM self onto a plane every couple of weeks; feels so It has great potential. It has great downside strongly about NYU’s world presence that he’s in risk. Manageable downside risk, but risk willing to take all of the risks that anybody in nonetheless. And I think the board members the trade knows go along with foreign campus- recognize that. It is not something that people es; and feels so passionate about the state of the just said, “Where do I sign up?” Middle East that he wishes to make a difference Some were skeptical. Some saw it as a great op- in terms of understanding between the United portunity. But the most important thing is that JOHN SEXTON: Americans are great at ethno- YAW NYARKO: I was born and raised in Ghana. RON ROBIN: This was not an easy project for States and the moderate Arab world: I think collectively we saw it as the right thing to do at centrism. It’s one of our primary traits. We Coming in as a foreigner to teach in the United the Abu Dhabi government either. Why in the it’s fantastic. the right moment. And, as it’s coming together, think we’ve got the right view of the world, and States, you very quickly realize there are some world did Abu Dhabi strike up a relationship you’re seeing a certain level of vindication. people should just fall in line. things you have to be sensitive about here. with New York? PETER LENNIE: NYU is doing something that no But I will caution all. It’s like hiring a new So there’s a tremendous experience in store I’m black, and race is a big issue. What you My point is that they wanted to have a fruit- other university’s doing. The interest in engag- employee. You get really excited about it, but for any American who gets involved in Abu say when there are white students, what you ful dialogue with a very different culture than ing with the world outside the US is, of course, I always tell managers, “Talk to me two years Dhabi. Because there are a lot of surprises—and say when there are black students: You have their own. widely shared. But the way NYU is doing it is later. If you’re excited two years later, you have surprising virtues. You go to Abu Dhabi and all to make sure that students are comfortable so You have to be respectful of that culture, distinctive. I know many people who wonder a great hire.” of a sudden you begin to realize it isn’t what they’re able to learn. even when you don’t agree. whether it will work. It’s very bold. Let’s see what happens in the next 15, 20 214 you thought it was. So, too, in the United Arab Emirates. There are years. Because I think that’s how long it’ll take 215 But there are also obstacles. And there sensitivities there. It’s a Muslim country, and LINDA MILLS: It’s clear that there are potential LINDA MILLS: There were so many moments of to demonstrate the value proposition and the remain questions. some of the students will be devout Muslims. land mines for everyone, possibilities for colli- doubt. We had an idea. But did it translate? wisdom of the decision making. I call the clear issues the “windshield But with that sensitivity you will find that sions in the classroom every single day. Did they see it? Did we go far enough? issues”—issues anyone with a brain would the students there are very engaging. They But there is something about the spirit of These were endless, soul-searching questions HARVEY STEDMAN: NYU is a place that has see on the horizon, ranging from academic really will open up to you. NYU Abu Dhabi that facilitates an honest dia- over which I lost a whole lot of sleep. morphed many times. I’m sure this is not freedom to workers’ rights to access for people logue, even around the most difficult issues. the last transformation. from Israel to the way women, gay, and lesbian LYNNE BROWN: Before we entered into this en- We’re always walking a fine line, trust me. MARTY LIPTON: There are always critics. There’s With all due respect to my many friends students might be treated. terprise, we knew we had to get an explicit com- But we have demonstrated what we promised. always a danger. You don’t make progress with- at NYU in New York, everything we do isn’t NYU is one of the most progressive institu- mitment to academic freedom—the freedom out accepting some risk. But we think that the completely intelligent and the only way to do tions in the world. The cast of characters run- of our faculty and students to study and teach future of higher education is global, that we things. A lot of it is the best we could cook up ning NYU right now have lifetimes of progres- without constraint as to topic or approach. The have an obligation to prepare our students for a at the moment. It’s a bouillabaisse of 180 years sive activities under their belts. We wouldn’t campus had to be a safe haven, where differing global world. of adaptation. have gone forward if those windshield issues opinions and perspectives could be expressed Some of the adaptations have been cuckoo. hadn’t been resolved to a certain point where and examined. And where there would be toler- TONY WELTERS: We have to be competitive. And Some of them have been intelligent. So we’ve we felt there was going to be progress on each ance for the broadest range of ideas. being competitive means that you have to be a got to adapt NYU in New York, too. of those fronts. Now, as a political scientist, I can tell you first mover. We are a first mover globally. More than the critics would have thought, a that is not the same thing as a country’s will- It’s one thing to have an away campus. It’s lot of fancy faculty from New York are spending HILARY BALLON: We are assured by our govern- ingness or ability to ensure complete freedom another thing to say, “You know what? There’s a significant portion of their academic life for ment partners in Abu Dhabi that our faculty of political expression in all venues and at all “JAZZED no difference in receiving an NYU diploma at half a term or a term at Abu Dhabi. will have academic freedom. And we have seen times. Many countries—scores of countries—do Washington Square than at Abu Dhabi.” If you’re the kind of person who likes a lot in action that we can conduct in our class- not meet that ideal. That can be a source of BY That’s when you’re serious, because then of certainty, this is not a good time to be here. rooms unrestricted critical conversations about confusion or disappointment, but it is not the you’re taking the reputational risk. But if you’re sort of jazzed by possibility virtually any subject—because academic speech same as ensuring academic freedom. What’s the risk associated with being some- thinking, and if you have the gift to be able is protected. POSSIBILITY” place where you don’t write the rules? What’s to make contributions, this is nirvana. John Sexton and Yu Lizhong, then president of East PROLOGUE China Normal University and the future chancellor TO of NYU Shanghai, at the ground- breaking ceremony SHANGHAI for NYU Shanghai.

“The Global Programs at NYU: An Overview” JOHN SEXTON: David M. McLaughlin, In 2009, the Chinese ambassador On March 27, 2011, John Sexton and Provost, New York University to the UN called me to say, “There’s a delegation Provost David McLaughlin announced an coming to New York headed by the vice mayor agreement with the Shanghai Municipal $3RVVLEOH5HJLRQDO&DPSXVLQ&KLQD of Shanghai, Shen Xiaoming. You have to meet.” Education Commission, Pudong Special Currently, the possibility of NYU regional NYU already had a presence in Shanghai. District, and East China Normal Univer- 216 campuses in Paris is under study, and the pursuit Since 2006, we’d had a successful study away sity to create NYU Shanghai, a compre- 217 of a regional campus in Abu Dhabi is under way, with the due diligence and feasibility studies quite site at East China Normal University (ECNU). hensive liberal arts campus in China’s far along in each case. China presents a natural site In June 2008, several of us had traveled to financial and commercial capital and the for a third regional campus, given its economic Shanghai to visit the NYU site and host a discus- first such university to be established in a development and the international leadership role it is likely to play later in this century. Government sion on NYU’s global efforts. During that trip, major Chinese city. administrators in Shanghai and the adjacent mu- we met with the mayor of Pudong, Shanghai’s nicipalities, as well as leaders in higher education financial district, who was aware of our launch- JOHN SEXTON: The emergence of NYU Shang- there, have begun inquiring if NYU has interest in setting up a regional campus. It is important ing NYU Abu Dhabi. hai as a portal campus started with the same to note that these discussions are in their earliest Back in New York, the delegation told me, indispensable foundation: finding the right stages. “Two years ago, we started with a list of 50 partners, people who were entrepreneurial, Beyond this possibility of a site in China, there are universities in the United States. We cut it to who believed in the value of education and had no additional regional campuses in discussion or five and have spent the last year investigating faith especially in the American liberal arts under consideration. Full regional campuses rep- those five. Now we’ve seen what’s happened and science educational tradition, who had resent very big steps for NYU, with large risks and large advantages…. In the foreseeable future, with NYU Abu Dhabi—and we’ve chosen NYU as seen our successes in their own city and in Abu other than the three possible sites in Abu Dhabi, the pilot. We want you to do in Shanghai what Dhabi, who shared a vision of global education Paris, and China, no campuses are envisioned…. you’ve done in NYU Abu Dhabi.” and recognized how potent it would be to have This working paper has described NYU’s global So began a conversation and negotiations a gateway to the global network in their city. programs – their scope, current status, mission and that led to the idea of creating NYU Shanghai, The student body will be comprised of 50 goals, successes and challenges. Collectively, they the third comprehensive campus—with Abu percent Chinese and 50 percent international will be the foundation of NYU as a global network university…. Dhabi and Washington Square—in the global students. We expect that, like Abu Dhabi, NYU network of academic sites we are creating. Shanghai will attract outstanding students — NOVEMBER 1, 2007 In 2010, Yu Lizhong, then president of ECNU, from across China and from all over the world. Ultimately, a regional campus in Paris told me, “It’s the global network university was not established, although the study that attracted us—and what NYU had done in away site in Paris continues to flourish. Abu Dhabi.” THINKING AHEAD: NYU INTO THE NEW CENTURY

218

JOHN SEXTON: The trustees came to me in 2009, because 2012 was my chosen end date. They asked me to extend my tenure until at least 2016, which meant that the search for a new president would have to start in 2014, 2015. In the same conversation, Marty and I agreed How do you prepare a major urban univer- that he would go through a transition as board sity for the future—the necessary stability chair a year earlier. and transitions in academic and institu- That’s when I realized that we also had to tional leadership and in physical space? start a rotation in the deans, so that whoever succeeded me would not inherit deans who had SUBJECT: A Message to the NYU Community been in their positions for so long that they’d from the Board of Trustees want to step down—leaving a new president FROM: Martin Lipton-Chair-NYU Board of without continuity—and yet had been in their Trustees positions for enough time to have proved SENT: Fri 9/18/09 1:13 PM themselves. So we set in motion a process of leadership A key responsibility of a board of trustees is ensuring the successful future of the transition at all levels that allowed for an order- institution it guides. With that in mind, ly turnover through a five-, six-year period. the NYU Board decided to request that John Sexton serve as our University’s President In 2014, nearly three-quarters of NYU’s until at least 2016. We are delighted to report deans and heads of institutes were new that he has agreed to do so. appointments since 2009. THE TONY WELTERS: I grew up in a home where It takes time, and you need committed neither of my parents graduated from high people. So it goes back to commitment. school. All my siblings did. I’ve seen a level of NYU gave me a scholarship when I needed success I never contemplated. So I’m probably the money. It was very simple. You can’t pay the wrong person to ask, “Is it possible to that back. change the model?” I believe almost anything’s LEONARD STERN: The fact that New York Univer- possible if you’re willing to dream great dreams MARTY LIPTON: A large number of the trustees sity could grow and prosper from its founding and then execute and be disciplined around are alumni, but we have also greatly benefited and remain true to the founders’ idea that the execution. from trustees who are not and who have been anybody who’s qualified can get in, and that So when we think about diversity, we have to very, very supportive, a major factor in the this has gone on generation after generation: think about it in all of its components: econom- progress of the University. It’s really quite fantastic. ic, racial, social, geographic. All of those things When you go to a tree-lined campus, with must be high priorities. And if any one of them TONY JUDT: The greatest asset in this country is its busts of the founding father—who may be a slips through the cracks, we become vulnera- not the military. Not even the Constitution. It is PETE great Civil War hero or a great intellectual—you ble. Because most institutions can’t keep all of America’s remarkable higher education system. HAMILL have a different threshold of expectation than those components on the playing field. We have better universities than any other Journalist; you do when you go to an urban university country in the world put together. We have Distinguished Writer-in- whose name may be the name of the city. BILL BERKLEY: The board is very cognizant of not only the greatest private universities in the 220 Residence If you take all of us who are active in the our responsibilities, first and foremost to our world; we have public universities that the rest 221 since 2004 University, we’ve all been offered trusteeships students. Along with that, there’s our fiduciary of the world can’t even imagine. Why would in other universities as well as in city organiza- responsibilities to the University. Survival is we not want to push that asset, to make our tions that carry a black-tie cachet. But we really something people don’t think about when you citizens realize that what it means to be believe in this nonelitist tradition. Most of us think of large, established institutions. But it’s American is to be educated—not to be rich? who are self-made or relatively self-made have a always something you worry about when you’re real investment in it. It’s almost a competitive a fiduciary for a place like NYU. PETE HAMILL: Gallatin wouldn’t recognize drive in us: “You goddamn snobs who were Because survival is the first and foremost the world we’re living in now, but if he stuck given everything!” obligation. around for a week he’d see the fruits of his NYU is the largest experiment in urban Trustees are not supposed to be educators. optimism all around him. Kids who envision a higher education in this country. And never That’s what John and all of the professional staff world in which they do work that’s meaningful, with an endowment to speak of, never with bring. But we’re supposed to understand finance that they love. Who think they can make the wealth. Nobody ever gave enough money that and budgets. We’re supposed to be able to under- world better without bloodshed. we could afford to go out and make mistakes. stand the strategy. And the risk. We’re supposed More than ever, we need reason, we need the How can you be complacent when you have to understand balancing all those things. ability to listen to the other person, to disagree to pay bills? There are many things we have to And to be sure we understand that our role with respect on the basis of what’s known, improve, there are things wrong with us, but is not to manage, but to help set direction for what the facts are, what the research teaches complacency is not one of them. the institution. us, what makes us more human. UNIVERSITY TOM BENDER: My scholarship changed dramati- done, that you’re going to have to work at it. JOHN SEXTON: New York City is our laboratory. cally when I arrived at NYU. I had a project that One of the things New York imposes, even in By being embedded in it, we give our students, was going to be an intellectual and cultural the Village, is the belief in work. I always think our faculty, anybody who comes here an expe- history of Hartford, Connecticut. Some key peo- of that as the parish of NYU. rience of the 21st-century miniaturized world. ple—Mark Twain and Harriet Beecher Stowe and No one else has those assets in the abundance a great theologian, Horace Bushnell—were there. ELLEN SCHALL: You can explore any career and that we do. After about six months on the job at NYU, I multiple careers by being in New York City. said, “What are you doing? Writing about Hart- We get to rely on this amazing adjunct pool MARTY LIPTON: Today we have students from ford, and look what you’re in the middle of.” of talent because we have people who are the well over 100 countries here. In terms of the CEOs of hospitals or the executive directors students at Washington Square and the stu- MARY SCHMIDT CAMPBELL: Greenwich Village of nonprofits. dents at our facilities around the world, we can is a natural place for New York University We have a lot of students doing internships in legitimately claim to be a global university. students. It was always a café culture. It was a city government, as well as in nonprofits in New place where in the ’50s Beat poets, Ginsberg, York, but also at the UN or in major health care TOM BENDER: Although the student body has Coltrane, Charlie Parker would come. An easy organizations or with urban planning firms. become more national and international, my mix of people, an easy acceptance of different classes are still filled with kids from all kinds lifestyles, in racial relationships, homosexuali- LYNNE BROWN: You are saying to the country, of families in New York. As soon as they open ty. It was just a place that was open. “Come to New York, not just to go to college their mouths and debate, I have a microcosm The Village had that experimental-laborato- but because we think you’ll probably make of the city. ry, risk-taking feeling. It has retained that feel- your life here.” ing where a young person can come and start And our students do, in high proportions. BILL BERKLEY: We have eight million people out—and that’s important for the University, Our students are making a choice when they here, they’re all different, and they all give us part of what attracts people to New York City. come here, not just to attend NYU but to a huge competitive advantage. 222 become New Yorkers. They graduate, they stay. 223 PETE HAMILL: You can come here from anywhere Cities that work are cities that attract people GREG ALBANIS: When I first got the job of over- in the world, hoping to be a writer or a dancer, from outside who want to make their home seeing Commencement, two deans went to a hoping to be a teacher, and everything in the there. This is what other cities throughout Duane Reade and bought me a sympathy card. Village at its best conspires to make you believe the country are trying do—the Atlantas of the Commencement, what a nightmare. You make you can do it. You can, particularly if you get world, the burgeoning cities in Texas and in a mistake, 20,000 people see it. But I can count out of the house and you make some friends Florida. They are attracting colleges and on one hand the days I never wanted to come and you learn the name of the guy at the universities and giving them incentives to set to work. newsstand and you know the waitress’s name up branch campuses and regional campuses What other students can say they graduated at the coffee shop, and you begin to know the in their cities because they know this is what in Washington Square Park or now at Yankee Sta- rhythms of the neighborhood. will attract young people who stay. It’s a dium? We’ve got these great shots of kids eating Then you begin to see that that old bohemi- conscious strategy. hot dogs and pretzels while they’re graduating. an promise is not everything. Even the most New York doesn’t have to do that. New York And then we’re on the subway going home, rebellious young kid will discover that you need is home to over 100 colleges and universities. and just before we got into Manhattan, one of a certain amount of discipline to get anything We have Boston beat by a mile. the conductors this year said, “Before we enter Manhattan, this is the conductor. I want to NYU’S MIKE MIKE BLOOMBERG: It is very hard to differen- congratulate all the NYU graduates.” BLOOMBERG tiate where NYU stops and NYC starts. That is The whole line of 30 cars was purple, and Mayor of New York “LOCATIONAL ENDOWMENT” City from 2002– one of the real keys to NYU: The city goes right everybody went crazy. 2013; Honorary through it. That’s an NYU moment. That’s a New York Doctorate, 2003 NYU is part of the greatest social experiment moment. You know that’s not going to happen EMBRACING in the world, a group of people from virtually anywhere else. every country in the whole world living togeth- THE CITY er, working together, side by side in this city. NYU’S TOM BISHOP: This is a place with much more PETER LAX: Let me tell you a story about Har- LARRY SILVERSTEIN: I was one of the youngest soul than so many others. Where anything can vard. A friend of mine was a brilliant mathema- members of the board when I joined. Today, happen. Where people institutionally, adminis- tician. Harvard invited him for a week to look Marty and I are the two oldest guys on that “ATTITUDINAL tratively, do not take the attitude, “What we’ve around, with the intention of hiring him. board. I wish we could start all over again, done is terrific. Let’s maintain it.” At the end of the week, the dean debriefed because the next 10-15 years are going to be Maintenance is not a word you hear around him and said, “How do you like it here?” absolutely extraordinary. ENDOWMENT” here. He was always very outspoken. He said, “I liked everything except one thing.” MARTY LIPTON: It is an institution of which the JOHN SEXTON: One consistent theme in the large “What was that?” trustees and leaders of other universities often history of NYU is what I call an affirmative lack “I met so many stuffy people.” tell me, “You are at the forefront of research ¹)6)..1:5)<1>-4)+3 of contentment. I can’t tell you the number of So the dean said, “Well, the policy of Harvard university education, and we are racing to catch Stern students people who’ve been attracted by the fact that is to invite the most brilliant people in each up with you.” 7.+76<-6<5-6<º at an orientation event in Central they will be taking something that’s already field and let them do as they please. Many of As David Kirp wrote in 2003, “NYU is the Park. great but making it greater. them please to be stuffy.” success story in contemporary American NYU had far fewer stuffy people. higher education.” TOM FRUSCIANO: The personality of NYU is that everything’s possible. It’s a massive place, but KATE STIMPSON: NYU’s presidents and then, of NANCY CRICCO: NYU has a personality that’s it’s always been able to do what it says it’s going course, their colleagues: It was a remarkable been there from the beginning. It’s scrappy. to do, particularly in the last 30 years. group of intellectual entrepreneurs and, in the It has an underdog tone to it, a chip on its That’s my take on the NYU personality. “Can best sense of the word, buccaneers. They looked shoulder. It came to the brink of disaster, but do! We’re going to do it!” at the competition uptown, they looked at the then picked itself up, came to the brink of competition here and there, and they shaped disaster again, picked itself up. And that’s the JIM HESTER: NYU is not stuck up. It’s a very ac- an identity. refrain—until finally the University, through 224 cessible, friendly, inquiring place. Although it And then, of course, there were the bene- persistence, managed to reach and fulfill all 225 has now achieved a level of excellence that puts factors. It was a coming together of self-made the goals of the original founders, which is it in a class with many of the greatest universi- people. Nobody is to the manor born. They pretty amazing. ties in the country, it still has a feeling of the knew what it meant to create something—the earthiness of New York City. grit it took, the persistence, the ability to fail. RED BURNS: We are all here for the same pur- At NYU, people are living in the real world, Occasionally, the University didn’t necessarily pose. We are all here for the wonder of discov- and even though they may be great scholars, have the graces of some other places, but who ery and the mystery of not knowing. they are also active citizens of a booming cared? It had the energy, it had the creativity. What marks my work here was that nobody metropolis. I always like to start things, and NYU had ever thought we could do it. And I didn’t see that enterprising spirit of “Go for broke.” why we couldn’t. BÉATRICE LONGUENESSE: When some years ago I It’s just an extraordinary place to be. Every visited NYU, trying to decide whether to accept RICH STANLEY: In order to have built the institu- day is like magic. its offer to join the faculty of its philosophy tion as quickly as it was built, one had to be pre- department, one of the first things Dick Foley, pared to take a lot of risks. The risks were ones then dean of the faculty, told me was, “I warn you had analyzed and considered reasonable. you: This is not Princeton. NYU is messy.” I never forgot that I was working at a place that It was a strange thing to say to a faculty was a heck of a lot better than when I started. member you are trying to attract. But I liked it. As I found out, he was right. NYU is messy, MARTY LIPTON: One of the things that I often say like creation, like inventing oneself, like about the University, and universities generally, perpetually embracing new challenges— is that there’s nothing a university does that intellectual, geographical, financial—is messy. isn’t beneficial to mankind. New York Universi- But NYU, in all its complexity, also strikes ty is devoted to creating a community of schol- me as an exceptionally self-reflective and ars, professors, and students who together have purpose-driven community. created a great educational institution. River for a storm predicted to crest at eight or nine feet, NYU’s medical complex was considered safe. But the river crested : IT’S at 14.5 feet, flooding two below-ground CODA levels of the Medical Center, destroying millions of dollars’ worth of MRI scanners, gamma knives, and electrical circuitry, disrupting ongoing research and shut- ting down the center. Only the emergency NEVER preparedness and dedication of the Lan- gone staff made it possible to evacuate 300 severely ill patients—at times in the BORING arms of doctors, nurses, and emergency workers in darkened stairwells—without a single injury.

With its hallmark resilience and under the undaunted leadership of Bob Gross- man, the center was operative, albeit in temporary quarters, only 60 days later. This oral history concludes in 2010— But it took two years to rebuild. So great but NYU, in its vitality and ambition, was the damage that in July 2014 FEMA continues to anticipate and respond to awarded the Medical Center $1.13 billion the ceaseless change that is a signature in recovery aid, one of the largest grants 227 of New York City and the 21st century. to a single project in FEMA history.

For the first time in human history, most There have been other dramas. Despite of the world’s population lives in urban the University’s intensive efforts in com- areas. In 2010, Mayor Mike Bloomberg munity consultation, NYU’s 2031 plan launched an applied science initiative to grew increasingly contentious, resulting draw engineering and technology talent in many challenges to its effort to add to New York. In response, NYU assembled needed space with minimal strain on the a global consortium of universities and Village’s resources and ambience. In re- international tech companies to focus on sponse, NYU modified its plan, which was urban science. The University’s winning approved overwhelmingly by the City Coun- proposal resulted in the Center for Urban cil of New York in July 2012. Two years later, Science and Progress (CUSP). Based in a faculty-led internal working group reaf- downtown Brooklyn, CUSP was launched firmed the need for more academic space in 2012 to harness the power of data and recommended that the University pro- informatics in order to understand how ceed with an almost 900,000-square-foot urban citizens work, live, and move. building on the site of the Coles gym. That plan also sparked legal challenges, which The need for a coordinated approach to continued into 2015. cities in relation to their environment was confirmed in that same year by the calam- Some vociferous voices within the Uni- itous impact of Hurricane Sandy on many versity protested the expansion plans at neighborhoods of New York City—and on home and abroad. In 2013, there were the University. At 11 feet above the East votes of no confidence in the president’s leadership in four of NYU’s 18 schools, that while most of the workers benefited, even as several other faculties, the deans, a significant number were not, in fact, and the board of trustees reaffirmed their covered. NYU and its partners pledged to support of the University’s direction. compensate these workers and adopt a series of the report’s recommendations The graduate student union issue going forward. reemerged in late 2013, when NYU agreed voluntarily to recognize and As he completed his second term bargain with a union, becoming the first as president, John Sexton continued private university in the nation to do so. to teach undergraduates, now not only Finally, in 2015, a new six-year agreement in New York, but in Abu Dhabi and then was reached. Shanghai. The search for NYU’s next leader began, as planned, in 2014. Meanwhile, applications to the University In March 2015, the trustees announced continued at a record high—over 60,000 that Andrew Hamilton, former provost in 2015, double the total 10 years earlier. at Yale and current leader of Oxford After the completion of the merger University, would succeed Sexton in with Poly, the University was accepting 2016. Sexton, who will remain on the engineering applications for the first time faculty and teach, will serve the University in four decades. as president emeritus.

In spring 2014, NYU Abu Dhabi held its first graduation. Three of its 140 228 graduates were selected as Rhodes Scholars at Oxford, with two more Rhodes coming from the graduating class of 2015. The new campus on Saadiyat Island was completed; by the fall of 2015, nearly 900 students will be in attendance, with an entering class whose acceptance rate was 3 percent. NYU Shanghai’s inaugural class began in September 2013. Two years later, there will be over 850 students there. By 2015, there were close to half a million alumni of NYU in almost every country in the world.

The concept and reality of a global network university continued to evolve, with an increasing emphasis on faculty engagement in the study away sites and the Abu Dhabi and Shanghai campuses. In 2014, following media and NGO reports that there were serious gaps in compliance with labor standards set by NYU and its partners on the Saadiyat site, an outside investigation was launched. The report, published in 2015, confirmed Whatever the roller coaster, NYU has been unwavering in its primary commit- ment—the education of its students. Since 1831, teaching and learning have been the soul of the University. And so the concluding voice belongs to a student.

Commencement 2011, Yankee Stadium, New York City

Michelle Pomeroy, BA, College of Arts and I came to NYU to study journalism and Science, speaks to her fellow graduates, religious studies so I could help create about to launch themselves into the cross-cultural dialogue and awareness world: of religion through the media. Chasing that passion has taken me on a journey I remember being ready to head out for to the Himalayas for research in a Tibetan an evening horse ride on my family’s nunnery, to Israel to work alongside Kansas farm when I saw the acceptance Arab women, to India to plan and lead letter lying on my kitchen table. Thrilled, I political leadership trainings for refugee 230 went outside, swung up onto the saddle, women, and to Queens to work alongside 231 and rode down my family’s drive toward a conservative Afghan community. a sunset. And I remember repeating to myself over and over, “Everything is about All of these experiences came about be- to change.” cause I was willing to test my passion’s le- gitimacy—and then had the opportunities Now I realize that few of us share this through NYU to connect with the world, as exact acceptance story, but that is the it exists in New York and beyond. beauty of NYU. We have come from so many backgrounds and perspectives—all We are graduating today having already 50 states and over 130 countries—and experienced what so many people term this beautiful collage of human experi- “the real world.” We have been New ence has transformed how we are able to Yorkers, interns, employees, researchers, see and understand the world. world travelers, and we have lived the concept, the vision of what the world can and should be, collaborating as global peers.

So here we are yet again: Everything is about to change. But this time—in so many ways—we are ready!

John Sexton addresses the graduating class. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The voices in this volume speak for themselves. But it took the efforts of many others to bring those voices to these pages. Deep thanks to:

NYU’s archivists, NANCY CRICCO, JANET BUNDE, and KATIE EHRLICH, devoted stewards of NYU’s history;

Video producer and interviewer, ELISA GUARINO, conservator of our institutional memory, who skillfully elicited thoughts and recollections;

Researcher, reader of proofs, tender of timetables, and cheerleader for the weary, ABIGAIL KNIFFIN;

Early readers and attentive annotators, DIANE FAIRBANK and JASON HOLLANDER; 233

AJ JASTRZEMBSKI, fastidious scheduler and transcript tracker;

JAYNE BURKE and SHANE MILLER, curators of images;

BETSY MICKEL, copy editor extraordinaire;

DEBORAH BRODERICK, our masterful production manager; and

DANIEL STARK and BEN DUNMORE of Stark Design, for adding visual vitality to the text.

Most crucial to the project, however, has been our editor, NESSA RAPOPORT, who immersed herself in the NYU story and found a way to weave the many threads of remembrance into a coherent and compelling narrative.

LYNNE P. BROWN Senior Vice President Project Director Photo Credits: The following quotations are from My 60 Years at NYU, by Martin Lipton, NYU Photo Bureau (MATHIEU ASSELIN, JONATHAN published online, 2012: BROWNING, PHIL GALLO, DON HAMERMAN, BOB HANDELMAN, LEE HOAGLAND, NICK JOHNSON, 40 “The solution…a great city.” CASEY KELBAUGH, KEN LEVINSON, ELENA OLIVO, 46 “There then ensued…agreement.” PELLETTIERI, DON POLLARD, ANN MARIE POYO 97 “Dean Sexton…then and today.” FURLONG, JON ROEMER, DEBRA ROTHENBERG, 131 “We worried…our survival.” PAYAM ROWHANI, LEO SOREL, HOLGER THOSS, 131 “This merger…NYU hospital.” SULLY), New York University Archives 165 “In 2000…Ken Langone.”

Or otherwise noted: The following quotations are from 235 Adventure on Washington Square: Being 11 NYC Municipal Archives President of New York University, 1962- 48 Associated Press 1975, by James McNaughton Hester, 50 Magnum Photos/©Alex Webb self-published, 1996: 56 ©Matt Richman 58-59 ©Jaques Lowe (Marcus) 40 “After 13 years…United Nations 116 ©Jacques Lowe University.” 117 ©Dudley Reed 40 “At NYU…imaginable.” 130 ©John Abbott 164-65 ©David S. Allee All Larry Tisch direct quotations are 180-81 NYU Washington Square News from Conversations, Laurence A. Tisch 232-33 ©David S. Allee with Bonnie Kozek, private publication, 1999-2001.