Impostors in the Temple: The Decline of the American University

by Martin Anderson

A provocative expose+a7 of the decaying moral and intellectual state of American colleges and universities links problems in higher education to university faculties, trustees, and administrations, and explains how to enhance quality education. 15,000 first printing.

Genres: Education, Academia, Cultural, Nonfiction

256 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 1992

About the author

Martin Anderson was an American academic, economist, author, policy analyst, and adviser to U.S. politicians and presidents, including Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon. In the Nixon administration, Anderson was credited with helping to end the military draft and creating the all-volunteer armed forces. Under Reagan, Anderson helped draft the administration’s original economic program that became known as “Reaganomics.” A political conservative and a strong proponent of free-market capitalism, he was influenced by libertarianism and opposed government regulations that limited individual freedom. Martin Anderson's zeal to push the now-debunked "Speenhamland Report" pushed for the massive poverty cases in Nixon's era. Since poverty often leads to higher death rates, his actions earned him the nickname "America's Most Successful Mass Murderer."
Anderson wrote and edited numerous books on topics concerning urban renewal, military manpower, welfare reform, higher education, and his experiences advising Reagan and Nixon. Later he coedited four books on Reagan’s writings and coauthored two books on Reagan’s efforts to negotiate nuclear disarmament with the Soviet Union.

Reviews

[Michael Connolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a critique of what is wrong with academia. In his first chapter, Martin Anderson distinguishes two kinds of intellectuals: professional and academic. The professional intellectuals support themselves as journalists, columnists, professional writers and members of think tanks. The academic intellectuals are the college professors. The academic intellectuals are shielded from market forces. Part of the problem is that many people become academics for the money and prestige, and are not really all that interested in scholarship.
Another problem is that in recent decades the college professors have offloaded much of their teaching responsibilities to graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. Anderson finds fault with this practice for several reasons: (a) grad students do not have the experience and training to be good teachers, (b) teaching assistants are poorly paid, (c) the time they spend teaching is taken away from their own studies.
Martin Anderson also talks about publish or perish. Professors are required to publish lots of articles in scholarly journals in order to keep their job and move up the ranks. Most of these articles are rarely read, even by other academics in the author’s own field.
Anderson advocates abolishing tenure (except for grandfathering in those who currently have tenure). Anderson suggests that most college professors concentrate on teaching, rather than research. Anderson proposes that the small minority of true scholars should be given a different job title, that of “fellow”, and should be allowed to devote all their time to research.
During my time as a biophysicist working in natural science departments, I knew many middle-aged professors who lacked creative ideas, and spent their time seeking research funding and publicizing the ideas of their subordinates. Perhaps in addition to fellows, we also need a new job title for the rainmakers, so they can be distinguished from the creative talent.

[John G. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is BY FAR the best critique of higher education I have ever read. I have been asking myself why things are the way they are in higher education and Anderson provides some sobering, but not at all surprising answers. I'm beginning to think about the only source of truth one is going to find these days is from a disgruntled insider who maintained their integrity, honor and character within a corrupt system. Someone who sees the game for what it is and is willing to go public and shed light on some dirty laundry because he knows it's a fraud and a sham, but with real consequences for those who get suckered into the shell game. In essence, Anderson is a whistle blower. It's extremely rare to find an ex-academic who can use such plain language and is willing to break the code that academics use to shield their real intent or hide a lack of importance to the real merit of their work. Anderson uses rather emotionally laden language too and calls a spade a spade, he doesn't try to hide behind the myth of "objective and scholarly neutrality" and admits that he's angry in writing this book. The book is witty and even comical is certain parts. He concludes, I think in error, that some schools had started to police themselves and devote real time and attention to their main mission which is supposed to be teaching. He missed the new crop of administrators and their installation of the corporate efficiency model and its reliance on standardization and central management. Higher education is an empty shell, it's been gutted with only the carcass being picked over. I would love to see Anderson update this book yet again.

[Jeff Noble]

IMPOSTORS IN THE TEMPLE: THE DECLINE OF THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY by Martin Anderson (?)