Jay Sexton is an internationally recognized and celebrated scholar in the political and economic history of the nineteenth century, with his research focusing on the place of the United States in the world, specifically in relation to the British Empire. He is the author of “Debtor Diplomacy,” a look at British American relations during the American Civil War, and “The Monroe Doctrine,” a detailed analysis of early U.S. foreign policy and its evolution in relation to the needs of an expanding American empire.
As director of the Kinder Institute, Dr. Sexton — or “Dr. J” to his students — has shaped the institute’s graduate, faculty fellows and post-doctorate programs to encourage and support the intellectual community at MU. He has actively recruited students from all over the world, while expanding the scope of the Kinder Colloquium Series to include voices from the UK, Australia, Germany, Mexico, and South Africa, among others. His international perspective has helped cement the institute’s position as a signature academic center both at MU and globally.