New Leader for NYU Inherits Old Controversies

Doctor Andrew Hamilton will leave his post as Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University in January to become the next president of New York University.

Hamilton takes over at a complicated time. Controversial expansion plans are tied up in courts, relations between the administration and faculty are strained, and the university is under pressure to defend its tuition costs, which are among the highest in the nation.

The New York Times' Kate Taylor has written about the challenges Hamilton will face. She said Hamilton's renown as a scholar could help repair relations with the faculty.

"Some of the faculty see John Sexton, the current president, as more like a CEO and not like a scholar who is part of a community with them." she said, adding that Hamilton is known for a deft touch at smoothing out contentious relations. 

The 62-year old Hamilton has served as Vice-Chancellor of Oxford since 2009. Before that he served as the provost of Yale, where he oversaw a large-scale campus expansion.