John Edward Sexton (born September 29, 1942) is an American lawyer, academic, and author. He is the Benjamin F. Butler Professor of Law at New York University where he teaches at the law school and NYU's undergraduate colleges. Sexton served as the fifteenth president of NYU, from 2002 to 2015. During his time as president, NYU's stature rose dramatically into the ranks of the world's top universities, and it became the world's first global network university. Sexton has been called a "transformational" figure in higher education and was named by Time Magazine as one of the United States' 10 best college presidents.
From 1988 to 2002, he served as dean of the NYU School of Law, during which time NYU became one of the top five law schools in the country according to U.S. News & World Report. In 2000, Kent D. Syverud, then-dean of the Vanderbilt University Law School, called John Sexton the most effective dean of his generation.
Sexton has served as chair of several major higher education organizations, including the Association of American Law Schools, the American Council on Education, the Independent Colleges and Universities of New York State, the New York Academy of Sciences, and the University of the People President's Council. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and has received many awards and honors for his work in education, including the American Council on Education's Theodore M. Hesburgh Award for Leadership Excellence and 24 honorary doctoral degrees. In July 2008, he was named as Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur, the national order of the Legion of Honor of France. From January 1, 2003 to January 1, 2007, Sexton was the Chairman of the Board of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York; in 2006, he served as chair of the Federal Reserve System's Council of Chairs.
Throughout his time as dean and president of NYU, Sexton continued to teach a full faculty schedule (at least four courses) and to write books and articles. Since stepping down as NYU’s president, Sexton has continued to teach a full schedule and write both for the academic and popular press. He also has worked to expand access to education for underrepresented groups and refugees — the most notable of these efforts is the Catalyst Foundation for Universal Education, created with former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to advance opportunities for refugees worldwide.
Education and early career
Sexton graduated from Brooklyn Preparatory School, a Jesuit high school, in 1959. He has written and spoken much about his time at Brooklyn Prep and Charlie Winans, who he has referred to as his "great teacher."
Sexton holds a BA. in history (1963), an MA in comparative religion (1965), and a PhD in history of American religion (1978) from Fordham University, as well as a JD (1979) magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, where he was Supreme Court Editor of the Harvard Law Review.
From 1966 to 1975, he taught religion at St. Francis College in Brooklyn, New York, where he was chair of the Religion Department. In 1977, he incorporated the John Sexton Test Preparation Center in the New York City area, which offered test preparation services for exams such as the GMAT and LSAT. According to a government report, it served 6,500 students and had revenue of over $650,000 in 1979.
From 1961 to 1975, Sexton coached the debate team at St. Brendan's High School, a Catholic girls' school in Brooklyn, New York, leading the team to five national championships and numerous invitational titles. He was named to the National Forensic League Hall of Fame in 2003. In 2005, the Barkley Forum at Emory University presented him with a Golden Anniversary Coaching Award recognizing him as a top high school debate coach of the past 50 years. Still an avid proponent of interscholastic debate, he is chairman of the board of Associated Leaders of Urban Debate (ALOUD), which seeks to bring debate activities to underserved communities in America's urban areas.
After graduating from Harvard Law School, he clerked for judges Harold Leventhal and David L. Bazelon of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 1979-80, and he clerked for Chief Justice of the United States Warren E. Burger in 1980-81.
Dean of New York University School of Law
Sexton joined the faculty of the New York University School of Law in 1981, teaching first year law students Civil Procedure (the rules of courts); he was given tenure in 1983.