Richard Levin

Richard C. Levin served as President of Yale University from 1993-2013, after nineteen years on the faculty of Yale's Economics Department as the Frederick William Beinecke Professor of Economics, Emeritus. He is currently CEO of Coursera, the leading platform for online course offerings from universities around the world. 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.