Open AccessThe Life, Work and Legacy of Ernest A. Lynton (1926–1998)
Author(s) -
Elaine Ward
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
metropolitan universities
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2472-3541
pISSN - 1047-8485
DOI - 10.18060/22842
Subject(s) - scholarship , sociology , identity (music) , value (mathematics) , metropolitan area , higher education , public relations , work (physics) , miller , political science , media studies , social science , law , aesthetics , medicine , mechanical engineering , ecology , philosophy , pathology , machine learning , computer science , biology , engineering
Learning about Ernest Lynton’s rich life has been interesting for me to uncover. Where many of us only know Ernest through his writings, I have come to learn the origins of the motivations for his work and commitments to advancing the public purpose of higher education and the scholarship of engagement.
The significance of the title of the first issue of Metropolitan Universities Journal in 1990, Identity and Culture, is not lost on me as I seek to understand more fully the life, lived experiences, and identity of Ernest A. Lynton that moved him to influence cultural shifts within higher education toward increased value and legitimatization of useful, publicly engaged work. As a researcher, I am driven to understand our individual and collective motivations for our community engagement scholarly work. What are our aspirations for this work and its broader impact in society? Why do what we do and how can what we do influence the greater public good. As a steward of change (Ward and Miller, 2106), I seek ways to use our individual and collective understandings to lift up and advance institutional commitments to civic and community engagement as we help our higher education institutions hold fast to and more fully realize their responsibilities to individuals and communities beyond our walls.