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Dr. Rick Levin

Dr. Rick Levin

President Emeritus, Yale University, USA
Former CEO, Coursera

Dr. Levin is the former Chief Executive Officer of Coursera. In 2013, he completed a 20 year term as President of Yale University, during which he played an integral role in growing the University’s programs, resources and reputation internationally. He also served on President Obama’s Council of Advisors for Science and Technology. He is a director of American Express and C3 Energy. In addition to this, he is a fellow of the American Academy of Sciences and the American Philosophical Society.

During his term as President of Yale University, New Haven, USA, he rebuilt the campus, redeveloped downtown New Haven, co-founded Yale-NUS College in Singapore, and strengthened the University’s international programs – in China in particular. He is the Frederick William Beinecke Professor of Economics, Emeritus. Before becoming president, he chaired the economics department and served as dean of Yale’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

Levin is recognized as an advocate and leader of the emerging role of higher education in responding to the challenge of sustainable development locally and globally. He established the Office of Sustainability in 2005, and during that year endorsed an aggressive greenhouse gas reduction target and strategy for the University. In 2007–2008, President Levin convened the leadership of Yale’s peer institutions nationally and internationally, challenging each of these universities to respond to the pressing issue of climate change.

Levin is also a trustee of the Hewlett Foundation, a director of Climate Works and American Express, and a member of the National Committee on United States-China Relations. He served on a bipartisan commission to recommend improvements in the nation’s intelligence capabilities and chaired a major review of the nation’s patent system for the National Academy of Sciences. President Levin holds honorary degrees from Harvard, Princeton, Oxford, Peking, Tokyo, and Waseda universities and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

  • Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Economics, Yale University, USA
  • Bachelors in Politics, Merton College, Oxford University, England
  • Bachelors in History, Stanford University, USA
  • Levin, Richard. C. (2013) “The Worth of the University”, Yale University Press
  • Levin, Richard. C. (2004) “A Patent System for the 21st Century”, Yale University Press
  • Levin, Richard. C. (2003) “The Work of the University”, Yale University Press