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Draft:Jonathan A. Becker

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Jonathan Becker (born October 8, 1964) is an American scholar, academic administrator, promoter of international education, and voting rights advocate who is currently acting president of Bard College.

Jonathan A. Becker
15th President of Bard College
In office
2026–Present
Preceded byLeon Botstein
Personal details
Born
Glencoe, Illinois
SpouseJessica Becker
Children2
EducationMcGill University (BA)
Oxford University (DPhil)
OccupationScholar, educator

Early life and education

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Becker attended New Trier High School and received a Bachelor of Arts in Russian and East European History from McGill University in 1987.[1] He subsequently attended St. Antony's College at Oxford University where he received his Doctor of Philosophy in Politics in 1993. His doctoral dissertation was, “Changing Soviet Press Coverage of the United States in the Gorbachev Era: Domestic and Foreign Considerations.”[2]

Career

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Visiting academic positions

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Jonathan Becker held a variety of visiting teaching and lecturing positions from 1991 to 1997, including at Yale University, Wesleyan University, National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Birmingham University, and Central European University (CEU).[3]

Civic Education Project

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From 1992 to 1993, Jonathan Becker served as the Ukraine Director at the Civic Education Project, which was an international non-profit organization founded in 1991 and affiliated with Yale University and the Central European University.[4] He coordinated a technical assistance program that placed social scientists in Ukrainian institutions of higher education to teach and promote curricular reform. He worked with university presidents and government officials to arrange academic partnerships and teaching positions for lecturers.[5] In 1994, Becker became European Director at the Civic Education Project, in which capacity he directed the work programs in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.[6]

Central European University

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In 1995, Jonathan Becker became the Assistant Vice President at Central European University where he worked closely with CEU’s rector, Alfred Stepan,[7] on special academic projects, with particular emphasis on interdisciplinary study and international academic partnerships with institutions in the United States and Europe.[1]

Bard College

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In 1997, Becker joined Bard College as Dean of Students. Over the following two decades, he held a succession of academic and administrative positions, including Dean of Studies (1998–2001), Dean of International Studies (2001–2011), Associate Dean of the College (2003–2011), and Vice President for International Affairs and Civic Engagement (2012–2015). In 2016, he was appointed Vice President for Academic Affairs and in 2017, Executive Vice President. In 2026, he was appointed Acting President of the College.[8]

In 2011, Becker founded the Bard Center for Civic Engagement, becoming its Executive Director. From 2019 to 2025, he served as Vice Chancellor for the Open Society University Network. Becker now serves as Vice Chancellor for the Global Higher Education Alliance for the 21st Century, a role he began in 2025.[1]

Voting rights

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Upon arriving at Bard College in 1997, Becker learned that a discriminatory and illegal form was being distributed to Bard College students who were attempting to register to vote. The students were being held to higher residency standards than others in the county.[9] The same was true at Vassar College, sparking a joint Bard and Vassar effort called Student Activists for Voting Equality (SAVE). Bard’s student papers at the time notes that then-Dean of Studies Becker was particularly active, supportive of student initiatives, and advocated on behalf of SAVE to Dutchess County legislators.[10][11] An article penned by Becker in the Poughkeepsie Journal asserts that “to welcome college students into core community institutions but at the same time exclude them from exercising their rights as citizens of the same community reeks of hypocrisy.”[12]

Following the success of SAVE, Becker’s advocacy focused on protecting student voting rights and polling locations. In 2009, Bard College found that poll watchers challenged one in five Bard students who attempted to vote on the basis of residency, resulting in students being required to vote with an affidavit.[9] In 2012, 100 students from across Hudson Valley higher education institutions, including Bard College, were barred from registering to vote due to lack of inclusion of a dorm number in their listed address. According to The Nation, this resulted in a class action against Dutchess County Board of Elections.[13] In 2013, a consent decree was signed under the oversight of Federal Judge Kenneth M. Karas stipulating that Bard students can register using Bard’s main address.[14]

Becker was involved in a long-running dispute with Dutchess County Board of Elections Commissioner Erik Haight concerning the location of the polling place for Election District 5, which includes Bard College.[15] After Haight repeatedly declined to relocate the polling place from a nearby church to Bard's campus, Bard College, Election@Bard, the Andrew Goodman Foundation, and several individual plaintiffs filed suit in 2020, alleging that the existing polling location violated state and federal accessibility requirements and imposed an undue burden on student voters.[16] The Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court sided with Bard, resulting in the designation of Bard's Bertelsmann Campus Center as the district's polling location.[17][18]

Following the litigation, in 2022, New York state enacted a law requiring boards of elections to propose polling places on college campuses with at least 300 registered voters. Becker advocated strongly for the passage of New York State Bill A454/S4658.[19] He also subsequently studied the implementation of the law in 2024 by conducting an assessment of institutions that have been granted polling places since the law passed. This study found that “only 25 percent of the 64 private institutions surveyed have poll sites.”[20] Upon identifying awareness as a primary barrier to successful implementation of the law on campuses, Becker reached out to schools in New York State without polling locations to ensure they knew about the law.[21][22][23] As of 2026, Becker is advocating for the New York State Student Voter Empowerment Act (A.3954–A/S2056-A), which he argues “seeks to foster informed student electoral participation by requiring New York institutions of higher learning to systematize and expand their engagement with student voters.”[24]

International work

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International partnerships and programs for students displaced by conflicts have been a longstanding focus for Jonathan Becker while at Bard. According to the college, Becker led Bard’s Sanctuary program which “has hosted more than 180 students who are displaced or threatened by conflict, crisis, or political repression in their home countries, including Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gaza, Myanmar, Russia, Somalia, Syria, and Ukraine.”[8] Becker argues that these students “should be viewed as civic assets, not simply as people without citizenship who need to be coddled and cared for.”[25]

Becker has twice served as Interim President at the American University of Central Asia (AUCA). First in 2018 to 2019[26]–for which he received an award from the Kyrgyz Parliament–and then again from 2021 to 2023.[27] During his second tenure as Interim President at AUCA, Becker facilitated the evacuation of nearly 200 students from Afghanistan to Kyrgyzstan following the fall of Kabul in 2021.[28][29] Becker is currently a member of AUCA’s Board of Trustees.[30]

Becker played a key role in establishing Bard’s presence in Russia from 1997 to 2021. Beginning in 1997, Bard participated in the establishment of Smolny College, a liberal arts program at Saint Petersburg State University that operated through a partnership with Bard.[31] In June 2021, the Office of the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation designated Bard College an "undesirable organization" under Russian law, the first foreign higher education institution to receive the designation.[32] The ruling prohibited Bard's activities in Russia and resulted in the termination of its institutional partnerships in the country, including Smolny College.[33] Following the designation, Bard established Smolny Beyond Borders, a program for displaced students and faculty formerly affiliated with Smolny College. Smolny Beyond Borders was the first of now three Bard College programs with “institutions in exile” which now also include American University of Afghanistan and Parami University, which offers online associate and bachelor’s degrees to displaced students in Myanmar.[34][35][36]

Becker also played a central role in the development of Bard’s partnership with Al-Quds University, the only American university partnership with a Palestinian university, which was established in 2009.[37][38]

Presidency

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Becker was appointed Acting President of Bard College in July 2026, following longtime president Leon Botstein’s retirement.[39][40][41][42]

Academic research

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Becker is a scholar of comparative politics, an area specialist focused on Russia and the former Soviet Union. He has also produced a number of studies and publications pertaining to youth voting rights that grew out of his advocacy work. Most recently, he has become a leading voice in a growing field of scholarship on higher education practices as they relate to politics.

His writing examines depictions of the United States in Soviet and Russian press, press freedom in authoritarian contexts. His contributions include delineation of the differences between “neo-authoritarian” and "post-totalitarian" media systems, as well as analyzing the implications of different media systems on journalists and citizens.[43]

His edited volume Youth Voting Rights: Civil Rights, the Twenty-Sixth Amendment, and the Fight for American Democracy on College Campuses was widely praised by academics, legislators, and pro-democracy advocates. Mark E. Elias, founder of Democracy Docket, called it “an exceptionally important book on the too-often dismissed problem of voter suppression laws aimed at young voters.”[44] Representative Jamie Raskin called the book “a stirring analysis of this important history and a powerful call to action.”[44]

Personal life

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Becker lives in Red Hook, New York, with his wife Jessica Becker and children, Joseph and Sarah Becker.[8] He serves on boards for organizations including: American University of Central Asia,[30] Parami University,[45] the Clemente Course in the Humanities,[46] and Opus 40 Sculpture Park and Museum, where he was chairman from 2017 to 2023 and now serves as an ex officio member.[47][48][49][50]

Bibliography

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Books and edited volumes

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  • Youth Voting Rights: Civil Rights, the Twenty-Sixth Amendment, and the Fight for American Democracy on College Campuses, (De Gruyter-Brill, Democracy in Times of Upheaval series, 2026)
  • Soviet and Russian Press Coverage of the United States: Press, Politics and Identity in Transition, revised and expanded paperback edition (London/New York: Palgrave, 2003)
  • Soviet and Russian Press Coverage of the United States: Press, Politics and Identity in Transition (London/New York: Macmillan/St. Martin’s, 1999)

Articles

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  • “Civic Engagement and Displaced Students” (with Zarlasht Sarmast), Journal of Internationalization of Higher Education; Policy and Practice, no. 2, 2025, pp. 151-166.
  • “The Global Liberal Arts Challenge,” Ethics and International Affairs, fall 2022 (36:3).
  • “Institution as Citizen: Colleges and Universities as Actors in Defense of Student Voting Rights” (with Erin Cannan), Rutgers Law Review, fall 2022.
  • “Internationalization through Integration” (with Liviu Matei), Journal of Internationalization of Higher Education; Policy and Practice, no. 2, 2022.
  • “Bard College, an Ecosystem of Engagement,” Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 38-52, 2019.
  • “Liberal Arts and Sciences: Responding to the Challenges of the XXIst Century,” Education Studies/Voprosy obrazovania no. 4, 2015, pp. 33-61.
  • “Russia and the New Authoritarians,” Demokratizatsiya, vol. 22, no. 2, spring 2014, pp. 191-206.
  • “The Perfect Storm: George W. Bush and the American Press,” European Journal of Communication, vol. 23 no. 2, June 2008, pp. 211-222.
  • “Lessons from Russia: A Neo-Authoritarian Media System,” European Journal of Communication, vol. 19, no. 2, June 2004, pp. 139-163.
  • “Keeping Track of Press Freedom,” European Journal of Communication, vol. 18, no. 1, March 2003, pp. 107-112.
  • “A Disappearing Enemy: The Image of the United States in Soviet Political Cartoons,” Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, vol. 73, no. 3, autumn 1996, pp. 609-620.
  • “A Changing Image: The Portrayal of the United States in Pravda's Editorial Cartoons in the Gorbachev Era,” Slovo, fall, 1989, pp. 23-41.

Chapters

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  • “Russia and the New Authoritarians,” in Laurelle and Rollberg eds., Mass Media in the Post-Soviet World: Market Forces, State Actors, and Political Manipulation in the Informational Environment after Communism, 2018, Stuttgart, pp. 57-78.
  • “Adapting Liberal Arts and Sciences as a System of Education” (with Susan H. Gillespie), in American Universities Abroad: The Leadership of Independent Transnational Higher Education Institutions, American University of Cairo Press, 2018
  • “Russia: Against the Tide, Liberal Arts Establishes a Foothold in Post-Soviet Russia” (with Andrei Kortunov and Philip Fedchin),  in Patti McGill Peterson ed., Confronting Challenges to the Liberal Arts Curriculum (New York: Routledge), 2012, pp. 151-174.
  • “Creating ‘Deep Partnerships’ with Institutions Abroad: The University as Global Citizen” (with Susan H. Gillespie et al.), in Ross Lewin ed., The Handbook of Practice and Research in Study Abroad: Higher Education and the Quest for Global Citizenship (New York: Routledge), 2009.
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  • “Give Them Ballots: Liberal education prepares students for citizenship. Colleges and universities must ensure they can vote,” Liberal Education, June 2026.
  • “New York colleges can do better by student voters” (with Sierra Ford), Albany Times Union, March 17, 2026.
  • “Gomillion v Lightfoot Reverberates in the Fight for Justice Today” (with Lisa Bratton), The EDU Ledger, March 5, 2026.
  • “Higher Ed’s Role in Protecting Youth Voting Rights and Democracy” (with Yael Bromberg), Forbes, February 25, 2026.
  • “US universities must do all they can to counter voter suppression” (with Yael Bromberg and Erin Cannan), Times Higher, December 10, 2025.
  • “The Fight for American Democracy on College Campuses: the promises of the 26th Amendment remain unfulfilled” (with Yael Bromberg), The Nation, November 19, 2025.
  • “4 Times Colleges Led the Fight for Voting Rights: Colleges can and have stood against authoritarianism before” (with Yael Bromberg), Inside Higher Ed, November 18, 2025.
  • ‘What universities gain from involving displaced students in civic engagement” (with Zarlasht Sarmast), The Times Higher, November 13, 2025.
  • “Deeds, Not Words: The push for university ‘neutrality’ harms education and society,” Liberal Education, May 21, 2024.
  • “It Takes a Higher Ed Network,” Liberal Education, April 12, 2022.
  • “New York Mandated on-campus Voting, which hasn’t happened,” Albany Tines Union, February 29, 2024.
  • “New York State Can Help Overcome Voter Suppression of College Students,” WAMC, January 27, 2022.
  • “Remove Obstacles to Student Vote” (with Nily Rozic), Albany Times Union, November 3, 2020.
  • “Colleges Should Promote and Defend Student Voting,” Huffington Post, August 12, 2016.
  • “Putin and the New Authoritarians,” TheGlobalist.com, November 30, 2007.

References

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  1. 1 2 3 Bard College. "Jonathan Becker". www.bard.edu. Retrieved 2026-07-09.
  2. ↑ Becker, Jonathan. "Changing Soviet press coverage of the United States in the Gorbachev era : domestic and foreign considerations". Researchgate. Retrieved 20 July 2026.
  3. ↑ "All Faculty Profiles". osun.bard.edu. Retrieved 2026-07-09.
  4. ↑ "History – Civic Education Project". www.civiceducationproject.org. Retrieved 2026-07-09.
  5. ↑ Becker, Jonathan (1 July 2026). "Note from Acting President Jonathan Becker". Bard News. Retrieved 9 July 2026.
  6. ↑ Livingstone, Janet (March 19, 1995). "A new breed of foreign aid" (PDF). The Ukrainian Weekly. p. 8. Retrieved July 9, 2026.
  7. ↑ Brown, Archie (October 30, 2019). "ALFRED STEPAN" (PDF). Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the British Academy. XVIII: 429–447.
  8. 1 2 3 "Bard College Appoints Executive Vice President and Professor of Political Studies Jonathan Becker as Acting President". Bard News. 12 June 2026. Retrieved 20 July 2026.
  9. 1 2 Euchner, Charles (2023). "Bard College: The Battle for Youth Voting Rights, A Case Study" (PDF). GHEA21. Global Higher Education Alliance for the 21st Century: 7.
  10. ↑ Chameides, Michael (September 7, 2000). "Verdict is In: Dutchess County Students Win Right to Vote". Bard Free Press. p. 2.
  11. ↑ Romm, Rafi (February 28, 2000). "Voting Campaign Heats Up". Bard Observer. p. 3.
  12. ↑ Becker, Jonathan (December 24, 1999). "College students deserve to vote where they live" (PDF). Poughkeepsie Journal. p. 1.
  13. ↑ Jamal, Najwa (2021-03-02). "Even Blue States Suppress Student Voters". ISSN 0027-8378. Retrieved 2026-07-09.
  14. ↑ Cannan, Erin; Becker, Jonathan (Summer 2022). "INSTITUTION AS CITIZEN: COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES AS ACTORS IN DEFENSE OF STUDENT VOTING RIGHTS" (PDF). Rutgers University Law Review. 74 (5): 1889.
  15. ↑ Place, The Andrew Goodman Foundation 55 Exchange; York, Suite 402 New; Ny 10005995-1808 (2016-06-20). "The Fight to Vote at Bard". Andrew Goodman Foundation. Retrieved 2026-07-09.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  16. ↑ Dunne, Allison (2020-09-29). "Bard College's Lawsuit Alleging Voter Suppression Awaits Judge's Decision". WAMC. Retrieved 2026-07-09.
  17. ↑ Relations, Bard Public. "Judge Again Rules in Favor of Voting at Bard". www.bard.edu. Retrieved 2026-07-09.
  18. ↑ .BARD COLLEGE, ELECTION@BARD, LEON BOTSTEIN, ERIN CANNAN, CYNTHIA DEANN AUSTIN CUNNINGHAM, MARIA ALEJANDRA RODRIGUEZ ORTIZ, SARINA JACQUELINE CULAJ and THOMAS F. FORMAN v. DUTCHESS COUNTY BOARD OF ELECTIONS, ERIK 1. HAIGHT, in his official capacity, and HANNAH BLACK, in his official capacity (UPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, COUNTY OF DUTCHESS September 22, 2021), Text.
  19. ↑ Becker, Jonathan (2022-01-27). "NY State can help overcome voter suppression of college students". WAMC. Retrieved 2026-07-09.
  20. ↑ Becker, Jonathan (2024-02-29). "Commentary: New York mandated on-campus voting, which hasn't happened". Times Union. Retrieved 2026-07-09.
  21. ↑ Alonso, Johanna. "A N.Y. Law Mandates Campus Polling Sites. Why Are There Still So Few?". Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved 2026-07-09.
  22. ↑ "Bard eNewsletter". www.bard.edu. Retrieved 2026-07-09.
  23. ↑ "Bard College Calls Out Lack of Polling Sites on New York College Campuses". Democracy Docket. 2024-02-22. Retrieved 2026-07-09.
  24. ↑ Becker, Jonathan; Ford, Sierra (2026-03-17). "Commentary: New York colleges can do better by student voters". Times Union. Retrieved 2026-07-09.
  25. ↑ "What universities gain from involving displaced students in civic engagement". THE Campus Learn, Share, Connect. 2025-11-13. Retrieved 2026-07-09.
  26. ↑ "American University of Central Asia appoints acting President". September 4, 2018.
  27. ↑ "The American University of Central Asia appoints interim President". June 16, 2021.
  28. ↑ "Afghan students in Central Asia set their sights on the US". The World from PRX. 2023-06-20. Retrieved 2026-07-09.
  29. ↑ Packer, George (2021-08-15). "Biden's Betrayal of Afghans Will Live in Infamy". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2026-07-09.
  30. 1 2 "American University of Central Asia - AUCA - Board of Trustees". www.auca.kg. Retrieved 2026-07-09.
  31. ↑ "The Handbook of Practice and Research in Study Abroad: Higher Education and the Quest for Global Citizenship". Routledge & CRC Press. Retrieved 2026-07-09.
  32. ↑ Callahan, Cloey (2021-08-07). "Russia bans Bard College after deeming it 'undesirable'". Times Union. Retrieved 2026-07-09.
  33. ↑ Saul, Stephanie (2021-08-05). "Russia Bans Bard College, and Other Universities Ask What's Next". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-07-09.
  34. ↑ smolny (2025-04-26). "Leadership in a Time of Crisis: University Leaders Speak". Smolny Beyond Borders. Retrieved 2026-07-09.
  35. ↑ "The Global Liberal Arts Challenge". www.ethicsandinternationalaffairs.org. Retrieved 2026-07-09.
  36. ↑ Communications, Parami (2026-06-09). "From vision to reality: Parami University celebrates its first bachelor's graduates". Parami University. Retrieved 2026-07-09.
  37. ↑ aqu2020 (2017-10-02). "One of kind Al Quds-Bard partnership gathers steam". Al-Quds University. Retrieved 2026-07-09.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  38. ↑ Bronner, Ethan (2009-11-06). "Palestinian campus looks to east Bank (of hudson)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-07-09.
  39. ↑ Custer, Sara. "Bard College Appoints Acting President". Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved 2026-07-09.
  40. ↑ Editor, Emily Sachar (2026-06-12). "Bard EVP Jonathan Becker, Architect of Project to Secure a Campus Voting Spot, Named Acting President of the College - The Daily Catch". The Daily Catch -. Retrieved 2026-07-09. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  41. ↑ "Bard College names acting president to succeed embattled Leon Botstein". Daily Freeman. 2026-06-13. Retrieved 2026-07-09.
  42. ↑ Radio, WAMC Northeast Public (2026-06-12). "Bard College names acting president". WAMC. Retrieved 2026-07-09.
  43. ↑ Becker, Jonathan (2014-01-04). "Russia and the new authoritarians". Demokratizatsiya. 22: 191–206.
  44. 1 2 Becker, Jonathan; Bromberg, Yael (2025-11-17). Youth Voting Rights: Civil Rights, the Twenty-Sixth Amendment, and the Fight for American Democracy on College Campuses. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. ISBN 978-3-11-157631-2.
  45. ↑ "Leadership". Parami University. Retrieved 2026-07-09.
  46. ↑ "Mission Statement and Organizational Objectives". www.clementecourse.org. Archived from the original on 2026-03-19. Retrieved 2026-07-09.
  47. ↑ Richards, India. "New Board Chair and Executive Director". Opus 40. Retrieved 2026-07-09.
  48. ↑ Richards, India (2022-02-27). "Expert Team Announced!". Opus 40. Retrieved 2026-07-09.
  49. ↑ Stevens, Matt (2021-07-31). "Good Fences Make Good Neighbors? Not at Opus 40". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-07-09.
  50. ↑ Most, Rokosz (2023-02-07). "Harvey Fite home and Opus 40 are reunited - Hudson Valley One". Retrieved 2026-07-09.
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