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Jonathan Becker

Executive Vice President and Vice President for Academic Affairs; Director, Center for Civic Engagement
Bard College

Jonathan Becker is the Vice President for Academic Affairs and the Director of the Center for Civic Engagement at Bard College, where he has worked since 1997 and where he is a Professor of Political Studies. He also serves as the Vice Chancellor of the Open Society University Network. Dr. Becker oversees Bard’s global partnerships, including its degree-granting programs with the American University of Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan), Al-Quds University (Palestine), Bard College Berlin, and the Central European University (Vienna), as well as Bard’s programs with institutions in exile, including the Parami University (Myanmar) and Smolny Beyond Borders (Russia). He has published several books and articles on media, liberal arts education, and civic engagement. Recent publications include: “Deeds, Not Words: The push for university neutrality harms education and society,” Liberal Education, May 2024; “The Global Liberal Arts Challenge;” Ethics and International Affairs, Fall 2022; and, “Institution as Citizen: Colleges and Universities as Actors in Defense of Student Voting Rights,” Rutgers University Law Review, Fall 2022. He was a guest editor a special issue of Education Studies/Voprosy obrazovania on Liberal Arts and Sciences Education (2015). He is editor of a forthcoming book, Youth Voting Rights, which is a part of a series on Democracy in Times of Upheaval, which will be published as an Open Educational Resource by De Gruyter (Fall, 2025).

Dr. Becker earned his B.A. from McGill University in 1987 and his DPhil. from St. Antony’s College, Oxford in 1993.Previously he served as Acting President of the American University of Central Asia (2018-19 and from 2021-2023) and as Assistant Vice President of the Central European University (1995-97).

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