Thomas Lindsay
Encyclopedia
Thomas K. Lindsay is an American
educator and academic who is the former President of Shimer College
. He was the Deputy Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities
until December 2008. He was also the Director of the NEH We the People initiative, which funds programs, research and other activities that explore significant events and themes in U.S. history and culture, and advance knowledge of the principles that define America. Lindsay received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. His research has focused largely on the relation of democracy and education. His articles have appeared in the American Political Science Review
, The Journal of Politics and the American Journal of Political Science
.
Lindsay was a professor of Political Science at the University of Northern Iowa
and won the Pi Sigma Alpha
/American Political Science Association Award for Outstanding Teaching in 1999. The same year, he was appointed dean of the graduate school and director of the Institute for Philosophic Studies at the University of Dallas
, and subsequently was promoted to provost
.
In 2005, Lindsay briefly became provost and executive vice president of Seton Hall University
.
college with an enrollment of approximately 150 students, in January 2009. His subsequent tenure was marked by controversy over both his tactics and his long-term plans for the school. Controversy first broke out over Lindsay's firing the Director of Admissions, then hiring a candidate who had been rejected twice by the search committee, all of which was done, according to Professor Albert Fernandez, "without any internal consultation whatsoever"..
In January 2010, it was first made public that most of the trustees supporting Lindsay's actions also shared financial ties with Barre Seid, a Chicago industrialist and major donor to the school who had previously been anonymous. In February 2010, despite the unanimous objections of the faculty, strong opposition from the community as a whole, and protests by students, the Board of Trustees approved a wholesale rewrite by Lindsay of the school's mission statement. The vote passed by a secret ballot vote of 18-16.
On April 18, 2010, the Shimer College Board of Trustees voted to remove Lindsay from his post as president. A majority voted to oust Lindsay, leaving a contingent of Lindsay supporters on the Board, all of whom subsequently resigned. The vote came shortly after unanimous votes of no confidence by the faculty, the Alumni Association, and the Assembly.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
educator and academic who is the former President of Shimer College
Shimer College
Shimer College is a very small, private, undergraduate liberal arts college in Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. Founded by Frances Wood Shimer in 1853 in the frontier town of Mt. Carroll, Illinois, it was a women's school for most of its first century. It joined with the University of...
. He was the Deputy Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities
National Endowment for the Humanities
The National Endowment for the Humanities is an independent federal agency of the United States established by the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965 dedicated to supporting research, education, preservation, and public programs in the humanities. The NEH is located at...
until December 2008. He was also the Director of the NEH We the People initiative, which funds programs, research and other activities that explore significant events and themes in U.S. history and culture, and advance knowledge of the principles that define America. Lindsay received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. His research has focused largely on the relation of democracy and education. His articles have appeared in the American Political Science Review
American Political Science Review
The American Political Science Review is the flagship publication of the American Political Science Association and is the most prestigious journal in political science according to the ISI 2004 Journal Citation Report...
, The Journal of Politics and the American Journal of Political Science
American Journal of Political Science
The American Journal of Political Science is published by the Midwest Political Science Association. It was formerly known as the Midwest Journal of Political Science. According to the 2008 edition of the Journal Citation Reports, its impact factor is 2.397...
.
Lindsay was a professor of Political Science at the University of Northern Iowa
University of Northern Iowa
The University of Northern Iowa is a college located in Cedar Falls, Iowa, United States. UNI offers more than 120 majors across the colleges of Business Administration, Education, Humanities and Fine Arts, Natural Sciences, and Social and Behavioral sciences, and graduate college.UNI has...
and won the Pi Sigma Alpha
Pi sigma alpha
Pi Sigma Alpha , the National Political Science Honor Society, is the only honor society for college and university students of political science in the United States. Its purpose is to recognize and promote high academic achievement in the field of political science...
/American Political Science Association Award for Outstanding Teaching in 1999. The same year, he was appointed dean of the graduate school and director of the Institute for Philosophic Studies at the University of Dallas
University of Dallas
The University of Dallas is a private, independent Catholic regional university located in Irving, Texas, established in 1956, which is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. According to U.S...
, and subsequently was promoted to provost
Provost (education)
A provost is the senior academic administrator at many institutions of higher education in the United States, Canada and Australia, the equivalent of a pro-vice-chancellor at some institutions in the United Kingdom and Ireland....
.
In 2005, Lindsay briefly became provost and executive vice president of Seton Hall University
Seton Hall University
Seton Hall University is a private Roman Catholic university in South Orange, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1856 by Archbishop James Roosevelt Bayley, Seton Hall is the oldest diocesan university in the United States. Seton Hall is also the oldest and largest Catholic university in the...
.
Shimer College presidency
Thomas Lindsay became president of Shimer College, a Great BooksGreat Books
Great Books refers primarily to a group of books that tradition, and various institutions and authorities, have regarded as constituting or best expressing the foundations of Western culture ; derivatively the term also refers to a curriculum or method of education based around a list of such books...
college with an enrollment of approximately 150 students, in January 2009. His subsequent tenure was marked by controversy over both his tactics and his long-term plans for the school. Controversy first broke out over Lindsay's firing the Director of Admissions, then hiring a candidate who had been rejected twice by the search committee, all of which was done, according to Professor Albert Fernandez, "without any internal consultation whatsoever"..
In January 2010, it was first made public that most of the trustees supporting Lindsay's actions also shared financial ties with Barre Seid, a Chicago industrialist and major donor to the school who had previously been anonymous. In February 2010, despite the unanimous objections of the faculty, strong opposition from the community as a whole, and protests by students, the Board of Trustees approved a wholesale rewrite by Lindsay of the school's mission statement. The vote passed by a secret ballot vote of 18-16.
On April 18, 2010, the Shimer College Board of Trustees voted to remove Lindsay from his post as president. A majority voted to oust Lindsay, leaving a contingent of Lindsay supporters on the Board, all of whom subsequently resigned. The vote came shortly after unanimous votes of no confidence by the faculty, the Alumni Association, and the Assembly.
Publications
- "Aristotle's Appraisal of Manly Spirit: Political and Philosophic Implications," American Journal of Political Science, 44 (July 2000): pp. 433–448.
- "Democracy, Acquisitiveness, and the Private Realm," Political Science Reviewer, 28 (1999):pp. 48–74.
- "Defending Liberalism?" University of Iowa Law Review, 1997, Vol. 82, No. 3, pp. 943–964.
- "Unlearning Liberty," Academic Questions, Summer 1997, Vol. 10, No. 3, pp. 55–62.
- "Antiquing America," monograph-length essay (23,000 words), Interpretation: A Journal of Political Philosophy, Winter 1996, Vol. 23, No. 2, pp. 249–295.
- "Was Aristotle Racist, Sexist, and Anti-Democratic?" The Review of Politics 56:1 (Winter 1994): 127-151.
- "Religion and the Founder's Intentions," in The American Experiment: Essays on the Theory and Practice of Liberty, ed. Peter Lawler and Robert Schaefer. Savage, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 1994, pp. 119–134.
- "Liberty, Equality, Power," The American Journal of Political Science 36:3 (August 1992): 743-761.
- "Aristotle's Qualified Defense of Democracy Through 'Political Mixing,'" The Journal of Politics 54:1 (February 1992): 101-119.
- "James Madison on Religion and Politics: Rhetoric and Reality," American Political Science Review 85:4 (December 1991): 1321-1337.
- "The 'God-Like Man' versus the 'Best Laws': Politics and Religion in Aristotle's Politics," The Review of Politics 53:3 (Summer 1991): 488-509.
- "Reform, Old and New," Research in Urban Policy 2 (1986): 209-215.
Other Published Writings
- "Becoming American" Inside Higher Ed (April 2008): pp. 115–117.
- " (Post)Modern Romance" The Heritage Lectures, No. 463, June 1993.
- "Western Civilization," The American Interest (May/June, 2008): 20-24.