Bloomberg BusinessWeek profile of John Sexton, president of NY University, who, with the help of Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Al Nahyan, is trying to franchise his institution in the Persian Gulf.
Sexton's dream: a circulating experience for students that connects them to six world-class universities spread around the world, with NYU as the anchor.
Sexton's use of foreign money to fuel global expansion is considered a model. NYU has only a $2.2B endowment, or $50k a student. Harvard's numbers are more like $26B and $1.3m per student.
My takeaway: A lot of US universities going into countries that are friendly with us militarily. It's a huge investment for both sides, so you want to go with people whom you have long and strong relationships, and with whom you're pushing connectivity.
