In this episode of Not Alone: Leaders in conversation, host Rafael Bras talks to Professor Karin Markides about what university leaders can learn by choosing hard institutions in very different countries, then using those lessons to build stronger research cultures and real societal impact. We explore why trust in higher education is slipping, how sustainability needs systems thinking, and what AI and other disruptive knowledge mean for the university mission.

Topics include:

• Transition to Academic Leadership
• Okinawa Institute Experiment
• Leadership Advice and Governance
• Trust in Higher Education
• Sustainability and Climate Challenges
• AI and Disruptive Knowledge
• Universities and Economic Development and
• Fourth Generation University Network

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In this episode of Not Alone: Leaders in conversation, Rafael interviews chemist and university leader Andrew Hamilton, whose career moved from Exeter and Cambridge to UBC, a postdoc in Strasbourg, and faculty roles at Princeton, Pittsburgh, and Yale, before senior leadership as Yale provost, Oxford vice chancellor, and NYU president (2016–2023). Hamilton describes how setbacks and “sliding door” moments shaped his path, and why he maintained an organic chemistry lab during leadership roles for personal grounding and faculty credibility.

Topics include:

• Chemistry of Art Teaching
• NYU Priorities Then Now
• Case for Global Campuses
• Trust in Universities
• Europe vs US Governance
• Leadership in Complexity
• Neutrality and Future Crises

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In this episode of Not Alone: Leaders in conversation, host Rafael Bras sits with President Lily Kong to probe trust, purpose, and the future of universities through the lens of Singapore’s model and global headwinds. From neutrality to rankings and the 100-year life, we explore how institutions can rebuild relevance without losing their soul.

Topics include:

• Singapore’s planning state and education-led growth
• first-generation academic journey and gender in leadership
• causes of trust erosion and ROI pressures
• universities leading versus lagging across economic phases
• liberal orthodoxy and cultivating true viewpoint diversity
• institutional neutrality versus passivity and red lines
• rankings, bad metrics and perverse incentives
• the case for humanities and experiential learning
• crisis of direction and diverse institutional missions
• lifelong learning, demographics and the 100-year life

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