BENJAMIN LEE APPOINTED PROVOST OF THE NEW SCHOOL

New York, NY August 17, 2006 – New School president Bob Kerrey has announced the appointment of Benjamin Lee as provost and chief academic officer of the university. Lee joined the university in July 2004 as dean of The New School for Social Research, one of the eight divisions of The New School. For the past two years, he has also been a professor of philosophy and anthropology with broad expertise in contemporary China, the cultural dimensions of globalization, and modern theories of language.

“Through his impressive scholarship and institutional service, Benjamin Lee has widened The New School’s sphere of influence in China and Asia,” Kerrey said. “His bold ideas about how to strengthen our ties to ever-expanding demographics in the East and beyond will help define the present era of global leadership at the university. He also has a proven track record of unifying the many important aims of our graduate and undergraduate programs.”

Lee replaces Arjun Appadurai, who stepped down as Provost earlier this year to become the Senior Advisor to the President for Global Initiatives and the John Dewey Distinguished Professor in the Social Sciences. Appadurai will develop the university’s global studies curriculum, consolidate the university’s India China Institute (ICI) and Habitat School projects in India, and assist in the analysis of student recruitment efforts in India.

In late 2004, Lee launched ICI with Appadurai and Kerrey. The institute works closely with elected officials, urban planners, business leaders, and opinion-builders in India, China, and United States to design collaborative solutions to the challenges of urbanization and migration facing all three countries. The ICI inaugural conference was held at The New School in April 2006.

As dean, Lee spearheaded far-reaching initiatives between The New School for Social Research and other university divisions, greatly enhancing the role of graduate faculty in undergraduate education. On account of his efforts, numerous jointly-appointed full time professors were hired in 2005 and 2006.  As provost, he plans to oversee the hiring of even more full-time faculty at both the undergraduate and graduate level. They will contribute significantly to the expansion of social science, humanities, and arts curricula.

At the graduate level, Lee also wants to establish new programs with Parsons The New School for Design under the rubric of design, democracy, and development—a project he already set in motion as dean. These programs will create meaningful dialogue about what art, design, social science, and public policy can accomplish together.

“In every area, including on-line education, I see us growing at an exponential rate,” Lee said. “To ensure that growth, we will dramatically increase the opportunities for interdisciplinary study, research and artistic practice. Doing so will generate solid demand for new students and faculty and raise our profile considerably.” 

From 1995 until 2004, Lee was professor of anthropology and Asian studies at Rice University, where he directed the Transnational China Project at the James A. Baker Institute of Policy Studies.

In 1997, Lee published a major work called Talking Heads: Language, Metalanguage, and the Semiotics of Subjectivity, the culmination of many years of research in modern linguistics and psychology. In 2004, he published, with anthropologist Edward Lipuma, Financial Derivatives and the Globalization of Risk, which explored how circulation eclipsed production as the cutting edge of capitalism.

Lee completed his MA in human development in 1973 and his PhD in anthropology in 1986—both at the University of Chicago. In 1969, he received his BA in psychology at Johns Hopkins University.

About The New School

The New School is a legendary and progressive university comprising eight schools bound by a common purpose: to prepare and inspire its 9,300 undergraduate and graduate students to effect positive change. From its Greenwich Village campus, The New School launches economists and actors, fashion designers and urban planners, dancers and philosophers, conductors, filmmakers, political scientists, organizational experts, jazz musicians and more into careers where their ideas and innovations forge new paths.  In addition to 70 graduate and undergraduate degree-granting programs, the university offers certificate programs and hundreds of continuing education courses every year. The university is comprised of eight divisions:  The New School for General Studies, The New School for Social Research, Milano The New School for Management and Urban Policy, Parsons The New School for Design, Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts, Mannes College The New School for Music, The New School for Drama, and The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music.