Thomas Bender has lived in New York City since 1974, when he joined the faculty of New York University. He has been chair of the history department and dean for the humanities at NYU, and he is presently university professor of the humanities and professor of history. He is the author or editor of thirteen books, including Toward an Urban Vision, Community and Social Change in America, New York Intellect, Intellect and Public Life (with Carl Schorske), Budapest and New York (with Carl Schorske), American Academic Culture in Transformation (with Carl Schorske), City and Nation (with Michael Peter Smith), and Rethinking American History in a Global Age.