Anthony W. Marx | |
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Marx in 2014
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18th President of Amherst College | |
In office 2003–2011 |
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Preceded by | Tom Gerety |
Succeeded by | Carolyn Martin |
Personal details | |
Born |
New York City, New York, United States |
February 28, 1959
Nationality | American |
Spouse(s) | Karen Barkey (m. 1992) |
Children | Josh Anna-Claire |
Education |
Yale University Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs |
Occupation | President and CEO of New York Public Library |
Anthony William "Tony" Marx (born February 28, 1959) became the current president and CEO of the New York Public Library in July 2011, succeeding Paul LeClerc. Marx is the former president of Amherst College, in Amherst, Massachusetts. Since joining the New York Public Library, Marx has focused on expanding the library’s education programs and on increasing public access to library e-books. He has also prioritized services for researchers and bringing library materials to public schools.
He is an alumnus of the Bronx High School of Science after which he attended Wesleyan University before transferring to Yale University, where, in 1981, he received a B.S. magna cum laude. He received an M.P.A. from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University in 1986, followed by M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Princeton in 1987 and 1990. In 2012, one year after he left the college, Marx received an honorary degree from Amherst College.
After graduating from Yale, Marx spent a year in South Africa participating in the anti-Apartheid movement. Even after returning to the U.S. for graduate school at Princeton, he returned frequently to participate in the founding of Khanya College, a secondary school which prepared black students for university.
According to BusinessWeek, one reason the Amherst Board of Trustees chose Marx as president was his support for socioeconomic diversity on college campuses. One of Marx's goals was to make Amherst more accessible to qualified students from lower income families. Marx supports the 'QuestBridge College Match' program at Amherst. According to their webpage QuestBridge is, "...an alternative college admission and financial aid process specifically tailored to bright, motivated low-income students. [An] alternative process aids low-income students in presenting a full picture of their intellectual promise and personal qualities in light of their limited resources".