Jay Sexter (February 13, 1936 – May 21, 2024) was an American educator who was the president of Mercy College (1990–1999) and the Provost, CEO and vice president for academic affairs for

Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine The Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine (TouroCOM) is a private medical school with a main campus in the neighborhood of Central Harlem in New York City and additional campuses in Middletown, New York and Great Falls, Montana. It is a divis ...

(2000–2015). A library at the

Henderson, Nevada Henderson is a city in Clark County, Nevada, United States, about southeast of downtown Las Vegas. It is the List of cities in Nevada, 2nd most populous city in Nevada, after Las Vegas, with 317,610 residents. The city is part of the Las Vegas V ...

location of Touro was named in his honor as well as a lecture hall at another of its locations in

Middletown, New York Middletown is the largest Administrative divisions of New York#City, city in Orange County, New York, Orange County, New York, United States. It lies in New York's Hudson Valley region, near the Wallkill River and the foothills of the Shawangunk ...

Early life and education

Sexter grew up in Sea Gate,

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York. He completed his undergraduate education at the

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a Public university, public research university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York ...

. Sexter then attended

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City, United States. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools ...

where he received his master's degree in social studies education. He then completed a second master's degree at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

in counseling psychology. Upon graduating from the University of Southern California, Sexter completed his doctorate in educational psychology at

Fordham University Fordham University is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in New York City, United States. Established in 1841, it is named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its origina ...

Career

While at Fordham University, Sexter became the youngest school district superintendent in

New York State New York, also called New York State, is a state in the northeastern United States. Bordered by New England to the east, Canada to the north, and Pennsylvania and New Jersey to the south, its territory extends into both the Atlantic Ocean and ...

. He was a teacher, guidance counselor, and principal. Sexter continued in the educational field and worked as an assistant professor at Fordham University in 1972. He remained at Fordham University until 1985. Throughout his 13 years at Fordham University, Sexter received several promotions. He was promoted to a department chairperson, dean, assistant vice-president, and an associate vice-president for academic affairs. In 1985, Sexter transplanted to the

John Jay College of Criminal Justice The John Jay College of Criminal Justice (John Jay) is a public college focused on criminal justice and located in New York City. It is a senior college of the City University of New York (CUNY). John Jay was founded as the only liberal arts col ...

. Over the course of five years, Sexter served as the chief academic officer, provost, and academic vice-president. He engaged in a variety of research related to criminal justice, and doubled the grant funding for research in this field, while working at John Jay. He became more prominent in the realm of higher education, and traveled to several countries, such as Japan, Korea, and China, to lecture on law enforcement personnel. In 1990, Sexter became president of Mercy College. Within a nine-year term, Sexter increased the student population at Mercy College from 4,800 to over 12,000. Additionally, he worked to develop several medical programs and dramatically increased the college's endowment. He retired in 1999 and became the first

President Emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some ca ...

of Mercy College. After his retirement, Sexter received a phone call from Dr.

Bernard Lander Bernard Lander (June 17, 1915 – February 8, 2010), founder and first president of Touro College, was a rabbi, social scientist and educator, a leader in the Jewish community and a pioneer in Jewish and general higher education. Biography Lande ...

, the founder and president of

Touro College Touro University is a private Jewish university system headquartered in New York City, with branches throughout the United States as well as one each in Germany, Israel and Russia. It was founded by Bernard Lander in 1971 and named for Isaac a ...

requesting his help in the development of a medical school in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. Sexter agreed to help in this endeavor and moved to

Vallejo, California Vallejo ( ; ) is a city in Solano County, California, United States, and the second largest city in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, Bay Area. Located on the shores of San Pablo Bay, the ci ...

, in 2000. While living on campus for a year, Sexter expanded the Osteopathic Medical School and created six additional programs in California. Some of the new programs that Sexter created included Physical Therapy, Pharmacy, and Physical Assistant Programs. In 2001, Sexter went to Nevada and chose property for Touro College to build its new campus. Sexter was essential to this campus' development. He designed the campus, supervised its construction, and obtained approval for the School of Osteopathic Medicine, Nursing, Education, Physical Therapy, and Occupational Therapy. He then left to return to New York, where he initiated another Touro campus. Sexter has worked as the CEO of the medical school campus in

Central Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan ...

, and then opened another campus in Middletown, New York. He retired at the end of the 2015 academic year, and continues to serve as a consultant for the osteopathic schools in New York, Vallejo, and Henderson Nevada. He served as a member of the board of directors, and is the executive vice president of American Collegiate Acquisitions, Inc.

Personal life

Sexter lived in Boynton Beach, Florida with his wife, Eva Spinelli Sexter. Together, Sexter and his wife had five children and five grand children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sexter, Jay Living people 21st-century American psychologists Heads of universities and colleges in the United States People from Coney Island City College of New York alumni Fordham University alumni Mercy University faculty Year of birth missing (living people) Touro College people