2026 Clark Kerr Lectures

In his 1963 Godkin Lectures, Clark Kerr declared that American universities were “at a hinge in history.” We are now at an equally pivotal moment: recent attacks on research funding and academic freedom imperil the model that Kerr described and that enabled American universities to become world-leading institutions. President Eisgruber’s lectures will examine developments that have rendered American universities more vulnerable to political attack and consider how universities and their presidents should define the civic mission of universities in the years ahead.

Info: The first lecture will focus on major trends that have affected the American model of the research university, including rising student debt, intense national competition, and battles over affirmative action, diversity, and merit.

Info: The second lecture will examine the role of university presidents, the civic mission of American research universities, and how university communities should respond to the challenges they now face.

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