MARTIN LIPTON,
LONGTIME NYU BOARD CHAIRMAN
“. . . university boards
of trustees. . . . are increasingly
made up of
corporate figures who, in addition
to raising large sums for their institutions, are playing an ever-larger part in their management. A good example is New York University and the furor that erupted over its plan to expand its campus in Greenwich Village and beyond. Officially called NYU 2031, the document became known as the
"Sexton Plan," after the university's president, John Sexton. Sexton bore much of the faculty's ire over the plan and the undemocratic way in which they felt it was adopted - all of which received abundant press attention. Less heed was paid to the real center of power at NYU - its board. Of its more than sixty
trustees, all but a few come from the worlds of finance, real estate, law, construction, and marketing.
to raising large sums for their institutions, are playing an ever-larger part in their management. A good example is New York University and the furor that erupted over its plan to expand its campus in Greenwich Village and beyond. Officially called NYU 2031, the document became known as the
"Sexton Plan," after the university's president, John Sexton. Sexton bore much of the faculty's ire over the plan and the undemocratic way in which they felt it was adopted - all of which received abundant press attention. Less heed was paid to the real center of power at NYU - its board. Of its more than sixty
trustees, all but a few come from the worlds of finance, real estate, law, construction, and marketing.
“Even
within the board, one figure was
dominant:
Martin Lipton. A prominent
corporate lawyer, Lipton
served as the
board's chairman
from 1998 until his retirement
this past October [2015]. As
Geraldine Fabrikant
reported
in a 2014
profile in
the Times (which
was buried
deep inside a
special education supplement), Lipton
was the university's
‘power
broker,’
runniing the board
‘with an
iron hand,’ as
several board
members told
her. More
than a decade earlier, he had
handpicked Sexton
to
be president ‘without any systematic search process.’
be president ‘without any systematic search process.’
“More
recently, Lipton
was deeply involved in the university's
expansion plans.
He also sat on
the committee to select
his own replacement
as chair, and
(as William Cohan recounted
in the Times) played a crucial part in steering the board toward the candidate it eventually settled on-William Berkley, the billionaire chairman of an insurance holding company in Greenwich, Connecticut, and the chairman of a charter school company. To be fair, NYU during Lipton's reign raised nearly
$6 billion, and the man recently chosen as Sexton's successor, Andrew Hamilton, is a respected Oxford don (and a renowned chemist). But the selection of Berkeley as Lipton's replacement, together with the continued presence of so many moguls on NYU's board, suggests that big money will continue to have an outsized influence at the school.”
in the Times) played a crucial part in steering the board toward the candidate it eventually settled on-William Berkley, the billionaire chairman of an insurance holding company in Greenwich, Connecticut, and the chairman of a charter school company. To be fair, NYU during Lipton's reign raised nearly
$6 billion, and the man recently chosen as Sexton's successor, Andrew Hamilton, is a respected Oxford don (and a renowned chemist). But the selection of Berkeley as Lipton's replacement, together with the continued presence of so many moguls on NYU's board, suggests that big money will continue to have an outsized influence at the school.”
Massing, Michael, ‘How to Cover the One Percent,’ The New
York Review, January 14, 2016, pp: 74-76.
