Derek Bok

“Good teaching is creating really interesting generalizations out of war stories.”

“Colleges do not merely offer preparation for the future; they occupy four years of a student's life, and an institution should do what it can to make these years absorbing and enjoyable.”

“Critics of American colleges typically attribute the failings of undergraduate education to a tendency on the part of professors to neglect their teaching to concentrate on research. In fact, the evidence does not support this thesis, except perhaps in major research universities.”

“There's a great deal of difference between thinking reflectively about moral issues and achieving higher standards of ethical behavior.”

“If we are prepared to invest the necessary time and effort, affirmative action can contribute to Harvard's quality and not detract from it.”

“The vast majority of students probably emerge from college with an adequate grasp of no more than a single method of inquiry. Even this capacity may erode over time if it does not relate to experiences and problems that recur in the student's later life.”

“Again and again, universities have put a low priority on the very programs and initiatives that are needed most to increase productivity and competitiveness, improve the quality of government, and overcome the problems of illiteracy, miseducation, and unemployment.”

“The first country to adopt happiness as an official goal of public policy is the tiny little country of Bhutan in Asia near China and India.”

“The college that takes students with modest entering abilities and improves their abilities substantially contributes more than the school that takes very bright students and helps them develop only modestly.”

“What college is all about is some kind of 4-year game about who is going to end up with the highest grades. And I don't mean to say that academic achievement isn't important. But it is, after all, a means to an end.”

“Efforts to develop critical thinking falter in practice because too many professors still lecture to passive audiences instead of challenging students to apply what they have learned to new questions.”

“The most obvious purpose of college education is to help students acquire information and knowledge by acquainting them with facts, theories, generalizations, principles, and the like. This purpose scarcely requires justification.”

“The University has a moral obligation to provide equal opportunities to women, minority persons and all other groups who work or seek to work at Harvard.”

“Most high governmental officials who speak of education policy seem to conceive of education in this light - as a way to ensure economic competitiveness and continued economic growth. I strongly disagree with this approach.”

“In 1968, the situation at Harvard was not one of which we can be proud. In that year, the proportion of minority persons in salary and wage positions was approximately 3 per cent. Virtually no minority workers were employed on Harvard construction projects.”

“For some students, especially in the sciences, the knowledge gained in college may be directly relevant to graduate study. For almost all students, a liberal arts education works in subtle ways to create a web of knowledge that will illumine problems and enlighten judgment on innumerable occasions in later life.”

“Ever since economists revealed how much universities contribute to economic growth, politicians have paid close attention to higher education.”

“As countries embrace mass higher education, the cost of maintaining universities increases dramatically relative to an elite system.”

“Universities are in a position where they can think very creatively.”

“Despite the hours spent debating different models of general education, the choices faculties make rarely lead to any significant difference in the cognitive development of undergraduates.”