Educator

College graduates work in every sector of the American economy, and the research engines incubated within our universities generate a wealth of ideas and innovations that have an enormous impact on our lives.

We play very fine schools on any given day.

I simply take serious issues seriously, but I do not take myself seriously.

Continue to surprise those who would put you in a neat demographic. Be insistently curious.

I often have said that to be a college president, you need a thick skin, a good sense of humor, and nerves like sewer pipes.

I believe that the future is determined by the great public universities. They educate 80 percent of the students and make the American Dream available.

I tend to deal with most issues with humor... always have and always will.

Jewish students, by culture and by ability and by the very nature of their liveliness, make a university a much more habitable place in terms of intellectual life.

If we make a difference in Ohio, we can make a difference on a national scale.

I've been president of Brown and chancellor of Vanderbilt, where they have very high completion rates.

In tumultuous times, it's important to have a very mature leader.

The universities of the 21st century are going to be the smokestacks of the century.

I am a bit odd. I am somewhat evangelical. But I am not crazy.

I am trying to prioritize and keep everything in balance, which for me is not easy.

I believe that it is higher education's purpose and calling to keep open the door to the American dream.

In a very complex world, you can no longer expect everyone to be great at everything.

What I should do is go over to the surgical suites and get my foot extricated from my mouth.

A truly great university is a nucleus of artistic expression. It fosters creative, critical thought, and serves as a platform for civil discourse.

My mouth is sore from continually extracting my foot from it.

So if a college education is indispensable, the challenge as I see it is how to make it more accessible.