Quotes by Derek Bok

About Derek Bok:

Derek Curtis Bok is an American lawyer and educator and the former president of Harvard University. He is the son of Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice Curtis Bok and Margaret Plummer Bok; the grandson of Ladies' Home Journal editor Edward W. Bok and Mary Louise Curtis Bok Zimbalist, founder of the Curtis Institute of Music; the cousin of prominent Maine folklorist Gordon Bok; and the great-grandson of Cyrus H. K. Curtis, founder of the Curtis Publishing Company, publisher of national magazines such as The Saturday Evening Post.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

I won't say there aren't any Harvard graduates who have never asserted a superior attitude. But they have done so to our great embarrassment and in no way represent the Harvard I know.

Derek Bok

I think any self-respecting educational institution ought to judge its policies by its best estimate of what their long-term consequences for their students and for the society will be.

Derek Bok

I don't regard the fact that there's a disparity in test scores nearly as importantly as I do the need for diversity, because I know from long experience that test scores, though useful, are a very limited measure of things that matter in choosing st...

Derek Bok

Apart from finding a first job, college graduates seem to adapt more easily than those with only a high school degree as the economy evolves and labor-market needs change.

Derek Bok

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.

Derek Bok

If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.

Derek Bok

Education, and I regret to say this as an educator, but there's no indication that education has a direct effect on happiness.

Derek Bok

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 ...

Derek Bok

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

Derek Bok

Economists who have studied the relationship between education and economic growth confirm what common sense suggests: The number of college degrees is not nearly as important as how well students develop cognitive skills, such as critical thinking a...

Derek Bok

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

Derek Bok

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.

Derek Bok

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...

Derek Bok

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.

Derek Bok

I think it's very important to emphasize that there are many, many different educational institutions in what we call higher education, and they educate an enormous diversity of students. I think all of those institutions have to define particular ro...

Derek Bok

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.

Derek Bok

There are no tests similar to SATs to tell us how much undergraduates know. State legislators, who appropriate billions of dollars each year to higher education, are naturally interested in finding out what they are getting for their money.

Derek Bok

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

Derek Bok

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

Derek Bok

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, an...

Derek Bok

Author Bio

  • NameDerek Bok
  • DescriptionAmerican academic administrator and lawyer
  • BornMarch 22, 1930
  • CountryUnited States Of America
  • ProfessionWriter; Educationist; University Professor