Edward H. Levi served the University of Chicago for most of his professional life, as a professor, dean of the law school, provost, and eventually president. Gathered here are fourteen talks he delivered between 1963 and 1969 that include such topics as the role of the university; the purposes of undergraduate and liberal education, professional training, and graduate research; the relations between the university and its surroundings; and the causes of student unrest. Throughout these talks, the reader will find expressions of Levi’s essential belief that “the university must stand for reason and for persuasion by reasoning.”

Edward H. Levi (1911–2000) was president of the University of Chicago from 1968 until 1975, when he was appointed the 71st U.S. attorney general by President Gerald Ford. He is the author of An Introduction to Legal Reasoning, also published by the University of Chicago Press.