The New School for Social Research was founded in 1919 with the primary mission of providing adult education. The University in Exile, which formally came to be named the Graduate Faculty of Political and Social Science, was established by Alvin Johnson, director of the New School for Social Research, in 1933. Through his work in Europe editing the Encyclopaedia of Social Sciences, Johnson became aware of the increasingly hostile and dangerous political climate in Germany. After Hitler seized power in 1933, Johnson sought a way to provide refuge to Jewish and anti-Nazi scholars, and over the spring of 1933 he launched an intensive fund raising campaign. Ultimately, with most of the funds coming from industrialist Hiram J. Halle and the Rockefeller Foundation, Johnson succeeded in offering teaching posts at the New School to ten European scholars whose lives and livelihoods were threatened. Called the University in Exile, the program's initial faculty members, appointed in October 1933, were Karl Brandt, Gerhard Colm, Arthur Feiler, Eduard Heimann, Herman Kantorowiez, Emil Lederer, Hans Speier, Erich von Hornbostel, Max Wertheimer, and Frieda Wunderlich. Later appointments made in 1938 included Austrian professors Erich Hula, Felix Kaufman, and Ernst Karl Winter, and Italian scholar Nino Levi. By June 1934, the University of the State of New York granted a provisional charter to the New School for Social Research, allowing the institution to award MSS (Master of Social Science) and DSS (Doctor of Social Science) degrees. Before completing registration (accreditation) with the State of New York, a Committee of Requirements for Degrees was established in 1934. The Graduate Faculty Constitution and By-laws were ratified in 1935. The Graduate Faculty's absolute charter was granted on January 17, 1941.

In 1943, the New School for Social Research was divided into two schools, the School of Politics, and the School of Liberal Arts and Philosophy. At this time, in response to the needs of returning veterans wishing to take advantage of the GI Bill, the school began a program called Senior Year at the New School. Geared toward adults who had previously completed some cousework, the program offered undergraduate credits for some courses and awarded bachelors degrees. However, the majority of students continued to take non-credit courses.

In 1997, the New School for Social Research was officially renamed New School University. The founding division, still devoted to adult education, was given the general name The New School, now comprising one of seven divisions of New School University. In 2005, the school underwent another series of name changes, which led to the overarching organization being called The New School, while the adult education program was named The New School for General Studies. At the same time, the Graduate Faculty changed its name to The New School for Social Research, reclaiming the founding name of the entire institution which had been dropped eight years before. As of 2023, the New School for Social Research is one of seven divisions that comprise The New School.

Joseph Robert “Bob” Kerrey served as president of the New School from 2001 through 2010. Prior to serving as the seventh university president, Kerrey was the United States Senator for Nebraska from 1989 until 2001.

Kerrey graduated from the University of Nebraska in 1966 with a Bachelor of Science (BS) in pharmacy, and attended Officer Candidate School at Naval Station Newport, Rhode Island the following year. He was deployed in Vietnam as a Navy SEAL officer in 1969, where a platoon under his command was responsible for a massacre of civilians in the village of Thanh Phong. Kerrey was discharged later that year after being seriously wounded, losing the lower half of his right leg. He was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1970, and upon returning to the United States pursued a career in business, variously owning a chain of restaurants, gyms, and a bowling alley. He ran and won the election for governor of Nebraska in 1982 as the Democratic candidate, serving a single term before becoming a Senator. He was chosen as President of the New School following his retirement as Senator in 2001.

Lacking a graduate education, Kerrey was an unpopular choice with faculty members, although his political connections made him very popular with the board of trustees. The Kerrey presidency focused on using Kerrey’s public profile to fundraise and continue building the endowment, raising the collective profile of the New School as a unified institution, in an effort to move away from a reliance upon the discrete reputations of the divisions. Notably, Kerrey’s term accelerated the process of centralization that had begun under Fanton. Kerrey was also responsible for dramatically increasing the number of full time faculty at the New School. In 2005, Kerrey renamed New School University as The New School, its current name, as of 2023.

Kerrey’s term was marked by controversy, including a 2008 faculty vote of no confidence, prompted in part by Kerrey’s leadership style and high administration turnover (five provosts left the university under Kerrey). Protests continued to plague Kerrey’s tenure, including a student protest in which students occupied the Graduate Center and the New York City police were brought in to expel them from the building. Kerrey was succeeded in 2011 by David Van Zandt, previously the dean of Northwestern University School of Law.

Sources: “Bob Kerrey to Step Down from New School Emeritus Role after Transformative Tenure.” Newschool.edu, February 1, 2013. https://www.newschool.edu/pressroom/pressreleases/2013/Emeritus.htm

Chan, Sewell. “The New School’s Kerrey Is to Step Down in 2011.” New York Times, May 7, 2009. https://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/08/nyregion/08newschool.html.

Foderaro, Lisa W. and Marc Santora. “New School Faculty Votes No Confidence in Kerrey.” New York Times, December 10, 2008. https://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/11/nyregion/11kerrey.html.

Friedlander, Judith. A Light in Dark Times: The New School for Social Research and Its University in Exile. Columbia University Press, 2019. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7312/frie18018.

Henry H. Arnhold (1921-2018) was a prominent banker, philanthropist, and art collector in New York City, where he lived from 1942 until his death. He was born in 1921 in Dresden, Germany to a prominent Jewish family. He fled Germany after World War II broke out, going first to Sweden, then to Cuba, and finally to the United States where he rejoined the rest of his family who had already emigrated. After a brief period studying at the University of California, Los Angeles and serving three years in the United States Army, he entered the family banking business Arnhold & S. Bleichroeder and served as chairman, starting in 1960. Some of the positions Arnhold held throughout his career include director at First Eagle Investment Management LLC, president at the Arnhold and Mulago Foundations and director and member of the Executive Committee of Conservation International. A prominent art collector, Arnhold collected lithographs and pottery, among a wide variety of other media.

During his New School service, Arnhold donated funds, art, and his time. Arnhold was a charter member of the New School Associates from 1944 until his death and a member of the Board of Trustees, where he served on the Executive Committee, among others. In addition to his role on the board, Arnhold played a pivotal role in the development of the Zolberg Institute on Migration and Mobility at the university, which created a space for the academic study of migration and institutional participation in public policy and debate. He also provided the endowment for the Arnhold Forum, a two story library and study center in the New School University Center, in 2003. Another notable donation in 1987 was a collection of lithographs that included works by artists Leonor Fini, Richard Lindner, and Marino Marini. Arnhold received the New School’s Distinguished Service Award in 1994. Henry Arnhold died in 2018 in New York City.

Sources: “Henry H. Arnhold 1921-2018.” IIASA, August 27, 2018. https://previous.iiasa.ac.at/web/home/about/alumni/InMemoriam/27082018-arnhold.html.

“Henry H. Arnhold.” Henry H. Arnhold - Dresden Summer School. Accessed January 25, 2022. https://dresdensummerschool.de/en/henry-h-arnhold/.

Julien J. Studley (born Julien Joseph Stuckgold) was a prominent American real estate broker and chairman of The New School. Born on May 14, 1927, Studley’s parents were Jewish immigrants to Belgium from Poland. The Stuckgolds moved to France at the start of World War II and later escaped to Cuba. When Studley was sixteen, the family relocated to New York City. Studley earned a high school equivalency diploma and started working in Manhattan’s diamond district before becoming an apprentice real estate salesman.

He obtained a broker’s license and started his own commercial brokerage firm, Julien J. Studley Inc., in 1954. The company was sold to his partners in 2002 and later bought by the London-based real estate firm Savills in 2014. It was renamed Savills Studley after the acquisition. Studley did not receive a college degree; instead he took humanities courses at The New School. As a philanthropist, he supported The New School, the City University of New York Graduate Center, and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. His donations to The New School helped to create The New School’s Observatory on Latin America and support the study of international affairs at the university. In 2012, The New School honored Studley by renaming the Julien J. Studley Graduate Program in International Affairs.

Studley passed away in 2015 from brain cancer at the age of 88.

Sources: Roberts, Sam. “Julien Studley, a Refugee Who Built a Commercial Real Estate Empire, Dies at 88.” The New York Times. October 17, 2015. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/19/realestate/commercial/julien-studley-real-estate-broker-who-began-career-in-a-bedroom-dies-at-88.html

“The New School Remembers Julien J. Studley.” The New School News. The New School, October 14, 2015. https://blogs.newschool.edu/news/2015/10/the-new-school-remembers-julien-j-studley/

Michael E. Gellert was a Trustee and Vice Chairman of the New School, investment banker, and philanthropist. Born in Prague, Czechoslovakia in 1931, his family fled to the United States in 1938. Gellert received his bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. In 1968, he co-founded the venture capital firm Windcrest Partners, and went on to serve as the director of several corporations including SEACOR Holdings, Dalet Technologies, Six Flags Theme Parks and numerous others. He also served as a trustee for Human Rights Watch, the Carnegie Institution for Science, and the New York City Opera. Gellert joined the New School Board of Governors in 1987. The Michael E. Gellert Professorship in Sociology, and the Gellert Faculty Resource Center each bear his name. Gellert died in 2021.

Sources: “Michael E. Gellert (In Memoriam 1931-2021)”. Human Rights Watch. Accessed June 11, 2024. https://www.hrw.org/about/people/michael-e-gellert-memoriam-1931-2021

Goldfarb, Jeffrey C. “Remembering Michael E. Gellert”. Public Seminar. August 23, 2021. Accessed June 11, 2024. https://publicseminar.org/essays/remembering-michael-e-gellert/

Robert Harry Mundheim is a New School Trustee, lawyer, and professor. Born in 1933 in Hamburg, Germany, his family fled to the United States in 1939. He received a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard University and a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) degree from Harvard Law School. Mundheim was admitted to the New York State Bar Association in 1958. He was special counsel to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission in 1962-1963, and general counsel to the U.S. Treasury from 1977 until 1981, acting as Chief Negotiator during the Iran hostage crisis. His academic career began as a visiting law professor at Duke Law School in 1964. He became a professor at the University of Pennsylvania in 1965, and served as Dean of the Law School from 1982 until 1989. From 1992 until 1999, Mundheim was general counsel for the investment bank Salomon Brothers. In 2011, he joined the University of Arizona Law School. Mundheim was appointed to the New School Board of Governors in 1994, and became a trustee in 1999. Mundheim received an honorary doctorate from The New School during its 83rd Commencement in 2019 for his commitment to philanthropy, education, and community service.

Sources: “Robert Mundheim”. The University of Arizona. Accessed June 11, 2024. https://law.arizona.edu/person/robert-mundheim

Eichenwald, Kurt. “Outside Lawyer Appointed General Counsel at Salomon”. The New York Times. September 2, 1992. Accessed June 11, 2024. https://www.nytimes.com/1992/09/02/business/company-news-outside-lawyer-appointed-general-counsel-at-salomon.html

“Robert H. Mundheim”. The American Law Institute. Accessed June 11, 2024. https://www.ali.org/members/member/101512/

Walter A. Eberstadt was a New School trustee and investment banker. Eberstadt was born to a wealthy German-Jewish family in Frankfurt, Germany in 1921. After the passage of the Nuremberg Laws, his parents sent him to study at the University of Oxford in 1935. He was interned by the British government at the outbreak of World War II and joined the British Army in 1940 once service was opened to persons considered enemy aliens. Wounded in 1944, he was briefly posted to the British occupation zone after the war before moving to London to write for The Economist.

Eberstadt moved to the United States in 1951, where he worked for Lehman Brothers, and later Lazard Frères & Co., where he became a partner in 1970. He joined the New School Board of Trustees in 1975, and was granted the Distinguished Service Award in 1990, an honorary doctorate in 1996, and made a life trustee in 2011. He also served as trustee and Vice Chair of The Frick Collection. He died in 2014.

Sources: “Walter Eberstadt”. The Martha’s Vineyard Times. March 4, 2014. Accessed June 11, 2024. https://www.mvtimes.com/2014/03/04/walter-eberstadt/

“The New School Mourns the Loss of Walter A. Eberstadt, Philanthropist and Financial Executive”. The New School. Accessed June 11, 2024. https://www.newschool.edu/pressroom/pressreleases/2013/EberhardtObit.htm