The Work of the University

by Richard C. Levin

This engaging collection of speeches and essays, published on the occasion of Richard C. Levin’s tenth anniversary as president of Yale University, reflects both the range of his intellectual passions and the depth of his insight into the work of the university. By turns analytical, reflective, and exhortatory, Levin explores what it means to be a world-class university, how the university intersects with local and global communities, and why a liberal education matters. He offers personal recollections of schools, teachers, and traditions of particular importance in his own life. And, returning to his roots as a professor of economics, he discusses the competitiveness of American industry and the relations between the market economy and American democracy.

Throughout these writings Levin illuminates and inspires. Always his affection for the university shines through. Whether greeting incoming freshmen, meditating on September 11, remembering an intellectual hero, saluting graduating seniors, addressing the League of Women Voters, or celebrating Yale’s Tercentennial, Levin, by example, shows what a liberal education can achieve.

Genres: Economics

262 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 11, 2003

Reviews

[Hubert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prof. Levin balances inpiration and aspirational thinking with a deep sense of responsible academic leadership, coupled with scholarship rooted in his own training as an economist, to put together a worthy volume of previously delivered speeches and published essays. It's a bit like going to your own graduation again - a worthy reminder of the value of (one's) education in a university environment. Most of the first part of the book consists of the speeches given at freshman addresses or commencements; the end of the book presents a few of his lectures on economics and politics, using the U.S. as his model of choice.

Highly recommended - and still relevant despite being published almost 20 years ago.

[Elaine]

(stopped on p. 6)