Anthony William "Tony" Marx (born February 28, 1959) is an American academic. He became the current
president and CEO of the
New York Public Library in July 2011, succeeding
Paul LeClerc
Paul LeClerc is a scholar in French literature, former President of Hunter College, and former President and CEO of the New York Public Library. LeClerc is also a trustee of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation as Director of the National Book Founda ...
. Marx is the former president of
Amherst College, in
Amherst, Massachusetts. Since joining the New York Public Library, Marx has focused on expanding the library’s education programs and on increasing public access to library e-books. He has also prioritized services for researchers and bringing library materials to public schools.
Biography
Marx is an alumnus of the
Bronx High School of Science
The Bronx High School of Science, commonly called Bronx Science, is a public specialized high school in The Bronx in New York City. It is operated by the New York City Department of Education. Admission to Bronx Science involves passing the Sp ...
after which he attended
Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University ( ) is a private liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church and with the support of prominent residents of Middletown, the col ...
before transferring to
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...
, where, in 1981, he received a
B.S.
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...
''
magna cum laude''. He received an M.P.A. from the
Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs
The Princeton School of Public and International Affairs (formerly the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs) is a professional public policy school at Princeton University. The school provides an array of comprehensive course ...
at
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...
in 1986, followed by M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in politics from Princeton in 1987 and 1990. Marx completed a doctoral dissertation titled "Lessons of struggle: South African internal opposition movements, 1960-1990." In 2012, one year after he left the college, he received an honorary degree from
Amherst College.
After graduating from Yale, Marx spent a year in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
participating in the anti-
Apartheid
Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
movement. Even after returning to the U.S. for graduate school at Princeton, he returned frequently to participate in the founding of
Khanya College
Khanya College is an independent non-governmental organisation based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Established in 1986
The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
**Ar ...
, a post-secondary college which prepared black students for university.
[Campus Revolutionary](_blank)
According to ''BusinessWeek'', one reason the Amherst Board of Trustees chose Marx as president was his support for socioeconomic diversity on college campuses. One of Marx's goals was to make Amherst more accessible to qualified students from lower income families. Marx supports the '
QuestBridge
QuestBridge is a national nonprofit based in Palo Alto, California. Its goal is to connect low-income and first-gen students with partner colleges and universities.
Background
In 1987, Stanford University students Marc Lawrence and Michael McCu ...
College Match' program at Amherst, an alternative college admission and financial aid process.
QuestBridge
Published works
Marx has written three books on nation-building, concentrating on South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
.
* Lessons of Struggle: South African Internal Opposition, 1960–1990 (1992)
* Making Race and Nation: A Comparison of South Africa, the United States, and Brazil (1998)
* Faith in Nation: Exclusionary Origins of Nationalism (2005)
See also
*John William Ward (professor)
John William Ward (1922–1985), was the 14th President of Amherst College, a veteran of World War II, Professor of English and History at Princeton University, and Chairman of the Ward Commission.
Early life and education
Ward was born in ...
Notes
External links
Anthony Marx bio on Amherst web site
Colleges Face Challenges of the Class Divide: NPR
Interview on Charlie Rose Show PBS (After 21 minutes)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marx, Anthony
1959 births
20th-century American Jews
Living people
The Bronx High School of Science alumni
Wesleyan University alumni
Yale University alumni
Princeton School of Public and International Affairs alumni
Columbia University faculty
Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Presidents of Amherst College
Presidents of the New York Public Library
21st-century American Jews