Jonathan Becker

Jonathan Becker is entering his 30th year at Bard College. In addition to being acting president of the College, Becker is executive director of Bard Center for Civic Engagement, which he founded in 2011, and a professor of politics. He also serves as the vice chancellor of the Global Higher Education Network for the 21st Century. He has worked with Bard’s international and national networks of liberal arts institutions, including: Bard’s partnerships with the American University of Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan); Al-Quds University (East Jerusalem); and Bard College Berlin; Bard’s programs with institutions in exile, including the American University of Afghanistan, Parami University (Myanmar), and Smolny Beyond Borders (Russia); the Bard Early Colleges; Bard Prison Initiative; and Clemente Course in the Humanities. He previously served as vice president of international affairs and civic engagement (2012–15), dean of international studies (2001–11), associate dean of the College (2003–11), dean of studies (1998–2001), and dean of students (1997–99). In 2019 and 2021–23, he was interim president of the American University of Central Asia, where he remains a board member. Prior to his leadership at Bard, Becker served as assistant vice president of the Central European University (1995–97). He is author of Soviet and Russian Press Coverage of the United States: Press, Politics and Identity in Transition (Palgrave, 2003); coeditor of Youth Voting Rights: Civil Rights, the Twenty-Sixth Amendment, and the Fight for American Democracy on College Campuses (De Gruyter, 2026); and editor of Civic Engagement and Social Action: Locally, Nationally, and Globally (CEU Press, forthcoming). He has recently published articles on youth voting rights in Liberal Education, The Nation, Inside Higher Ed, Forbes, The EDU Ledger, and Times Higher Education; the impact of civic engagement and displaced students and refugees in Times Higher Education; and the challenges of institutional neutrality in Liberal Education. The story of Afghan students’ harrowing escape to freedom and education is told in “A Journey from Kabul to Bishkek and its follow-up, “Our Journey to Bard.” Click here to read Jonathan's personal account of their evacuation.
BA, McGill University; DPhil, St. Antony’s College, Oxford University. At Bard since 1997.

Jonathan Becker has been married to Jessica Becker since 1997. He has two children, Joseph Becker and Sarah Becker.