Jeffrey Sean Lehman (born August 1, 1956) is an American scholar, lawyer and
academic administrator
Academic administration is a branch of university or college employees responsible for the maintenance and supervision of the institution and separate from the faculty or academics, although some personnel may have joint responsibilities. Some ...
who is the vice chancellor of
New York University Shanghai
New York University Shanghai (NYU Shanghai) is China's first Sino-US research university and the third degree-granting campus of New York University (NYU). Jointly established by NYU and East China Normal University with the support of the city o ...
. Known as an advocate for the role of universities in globalization, he previously served as chancellor and founding dean of the
Peking University School of Transnational Law in
Shenzhen
Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major sub-provincial city and one of the special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern provi ...
, China, president of
Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...
, dean of the
University of Michigan Law School
The University of Michigan Law School (Michigan Law) is the law school of the University of Michigan, a public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Founded in 1859, the school offers Master of Laws (LLM), Master of Comparative Law (MCL ...
, and chairman of
Internet2. On April 14, 2018, Lehman was one of forty named "The Most Influential Foreign Experts During 40 Years of China’s Reform and Opening-Up” at the 16th Conference on International Exchange of Professionals, for his work in higher education in China.
Education and early career
Born August 1, 1956 in Bronxville, New York, Lehman earned an undergraduate degree in mathematics from
Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...
. While a student at Cornell, Lehman was active in the
Alpha Phi Omega
Alpha Phi Omega (), commonly known as APO, but also A-Phi-O and A-Phi-Q, is a coeducational service fraternity. It is the largest collegiate fraternity in the United States, with chapters at over 350 campuses, an active membership of over 25, ...
fraternity
A fraternity (from Latin ''frater'': "brother"; whence, " brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club or fraternal order traditionally of men associated together for various religious or secular aims. Fraternit ...
and co-wrote the book ''1000 Ways to Win
Monopoly
A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situati ...
Games,'' with future tech entrepreneur
Jay S. Walker
Jay Scott Walker (born November 5, 1955) is an American entrepreneur and chairman of Walker Digital, a privately held research and development lab focused on using digital networks to create new business systems. Walker is also curator of TEDME ...
. He spent his junior year participating in the
Sweet Briar College Junior Year in France. He went on to receive a
J.D. and a
M.P.P. from the
University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
, where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Michigan Law Review. After graduating, he served as
law clerk
A law clerk or a judicial clerk is a person, generally someone who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial clerks often play significant ...
for Chief Judge Frank M. Coffin of the
United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (in case citations, 1st Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:
* District of Maine
* District of Massachusetts ...
, and then for Associate Justice
John Paul Stevens
John Paul Stevens (April 20, 1920 – July 16, 2019) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1975 to 2010. At the time of his retirement, he was the second-oldes ...
of the
U.S. Supreme Court.
After practicing law in
Washington, D.C., Lehman returned to the University of Michigan in 1987 to join the law school faculty. He also taught as a visiting professor at the
Yale Law School
Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by '' U.S. News & World ...
and the
University of Paris
, image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of Arms
, latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis
, motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin)
, mottoeng = Here and a ...
.
Dean of the University of Michigan Law School
In 1994, Lehman became Dean of the University of Michigan Law School—at that time th
youngest law school dean in America During his deanship, Michigan became the first U.S. law school to require all J.D. students to complete a course in transnational law. The school also drew attention for initiatives in public service and the teaching of legal writing. From 2001 to 2003, he served as president of the American Law Deans Association.
Along with then-University President
Lee Bollinger
Lee Carroll Bollinger (born April 30, 1946) is an American lawyer and educator who is serving as the 19th and current president of Columbia University, where he is also the Seth Low Professor of the University and a faculty member of Columbia La ...
, Lehman received national attention in the 2003 Supreme Court case of ''
Grutter v. Bollinger'', in which the University largely succeeded in defending the law school's
affirmative action admissions policies.
President of Cornell University
In 2003, Lehman became the 11th president of Cornell University. As president of Cornell, he oversaw effective large-scale fundraising efforts. In 2004, Cornell ranked third in the nation in university fundraising (behind only
Harvard
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
and
Stanford
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. S ...
), raising over US$375 million that year alone. Lehman was also known for prominently promoting his "three themes": "life in the age of the genome," "wisdom in the age of digital information" and "sustainability in the age of development." These themes arose from intensive engagement with faculty, students and Cornellians during his first year, a process that won him great respect across campus. Lehman pioneered the concept of a "transnational" university, by opening a medical campus in Doha, Qatar and cooperative education and research arrangements with universities in China, India and Singapore.
In 2005, Lehman resigned from the presidency, citing irreconcilable differences with the leadership of the Cornell Board of Trustees — an announcement that came as a surprise to most of the Cornell community and to outsiders. Lehman's tenure was by far the shortest of any Cornell President until the death of
Elizabeth Garrett
Helen Elizabeth Garrett, commonly known as Elizabeth Garrett or Beth Garrett (June 30, 1963 – March 6, 2016), was an American professor of law and academic administrator. Between 2010 and 2015, she served as Provost and Senior Vice President ...
in 2016. Specific reasoning for Lehman's departure has been highly secretive and subject to occasional debate within the Cornell faculty and alumni communities.
Lehman remained a member of the
Cornell Law School
Cornell Law School is the law school of Cornell University, a private Ivy League university in Ithaca, New York. One of the five Ivy League law schools, it offers four law degree programs, JD, LLM, MSLS and JSD, along with several dual-deg ...
faculty until 2012. In 2007, Cornell published ''An Optimistic Heart'', a book of speeches that Lehman wrote and delivered as president.
Founding dean of the Peking University School of Transnational Law
After serving as a senior scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C., Lehman became the chancellor and founding dean of the
Peking University School of Transnational Law, located on the university's Shenzhen campus. The school is modeled on the American style of law school, and it is intended that graduates will be eligible to sit for the New York
bar exam
A bar examination is an examination administered by the bar association of a jurisdiction that a lawyer must pass in order to be admitted to the bar of that jurisdiction.
Australia
Administering bar exams is the responsibility of the bar associat ...
.
On Sept. 29, 2011, Lehman was a recipient of the 2011
Friendship Award
The Chinese Government's Friendship Award () is the People's Republic of China's highest award for "foreign experts who have made outstanding contributions to the country's economic and social progress". The award was first established in 1950s, ...
, China’s highest award for foreign experts who have made outstanding contributions to China’s economic and social progress.
Founding vice chancellor of NYU Shanghai
In April 2012, it was announced that Lehman would be steering the new institution jointly with
Yu Lizhong
Yu Lizhong (; born September 14, 1949) was the first Chancellor of New York University Shanghai, having held this position from 2012 to 2020. Yu was awarded the title of Chancellor Emeritus of NYU Shanghai upon his retirement. Yu Lizhong joined N ...
, former president of
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, th ...
's local partner,
East China Normal University
East China Normal University (ECNU) is a comprehensive public research university in Shanghai, China. It was formed in 1951 by the merger of the Great China University (est. 1924) and Kwang Hua University (est. 1925) and originated from the St. ...
. "Yu will be the chancellor and will play a major role in government relations. ... Lehman, as vice chancellor, will have free rein in academic affairs. The first students will arrive in fall 2013, the majority of them from China." In the time from summer, 2012 until opening, Lehman is dividing his time between New York and Shanghai.
In November 2019, Lehman was charged by a faculty member with discrimination for failing to provide a safe and accessible environment. Restrooms at NYU Shanghai labeled as being for people with disabilities do not have basic accessibility features such as accessible flush handles. The charge is currently pending investigation by the
EEOC
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is a federal agency that was established via the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to administer and enforce civil rights laws against workplace discrimination. The EEOC investigates discrimination ...
.
Other activities
From 2007 to 2011, Lehman chaired the board of Internet2, an advanced not-for-profit U.S. networking consortium led by members from the research and education communities, industry, and government.
Lehman was an independent director of
Infosys
Infosys Limited is an Indian multinational information technology company that provides business consulting, information technology and outsourcing services. The company was founded in Pune and is headquartered in Bangalore. Infosys is ...
, Limited, a
NASDAQ
The Nasdaq Stock Market () (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations Stock Market) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the US by volume, and ranked second ...
listed technology company headquartered in Bangalore, India. He attracted attention in India in his role as chair of the nominations committee that recommended the successor to the company’s founder
N. R. Narayana Murthy, who had been appointed to the Cornell Board of Trustees during Lehman's tenure as President. He also served as chair of the board of the company’s American subsidiary, Infosys Public Services. Lehman abruptly resigned from Infosys in August 2017 following a whistleblower complaint into the company's conduct, including charges of nepotistic dealings by Lehman himself, mirroring his sudden resignation from Cornell years earlier.
See also
*
References
External links
Jeffrey Lehman personal websiteLehman at Peking University School of Transnational Law, Shenzhen
Cornell Presidency: Jeffrey S. Lehman*
Cornell University Library
The Cornell University Library is the library system of Cornell University. As of 2014, it holds over 8 million printed volumes and over a million ebooks. More than 90 percent of its current 120,000 periodical titles are available online. It ...
Presidents Exhibition: Jeffrey Sean Lehman
PresidencyInauguration
* LegalInsight.net audio
Inside Higher Ed: "Sudden Departure at Cornell"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lehman, Jeffrey Sean
1956 births
Living people
Cornell University alumni
Law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States
Presidents of Cornell University
Peking University faculty
People from Bronxville, New York
American expatriate academics
American expatriates in China
University of Michigan Law School alumni
American chief executives of education-related organizations
Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning alumni