The Authors' Corner
The Authors' Corner. Where the ideas shaping higher education meet the leaders shaping universities.
The Authors’ Corner is a year-round initiative of the World Universities Foundation that connects the authors, publishers and university presses whose work shapes higher education with the presidents, rectors, vice-chancellors and provosts who lead the world’s universities. It brings selected books into the gatherings of university leaders it joins, carries them through the year by a video podcast, a digest and publications, and supports them with open-access, digital, collection and short-run printing services.
Higher education does not lack ideas. It lacks a trusted place where its ideas and its leaders meet.
At a glance
- What
- A year-round initiative of the World Universities Foundation, WUF, that connects the authors, publishers and university presses whose work shapes higher education with the presidents, rectors, vice-chancellors and provosts who lead the world’s universities. It brings selected books into every gathering of university leaders it joins, carries them through the year by a video podcast, a digest and publications, and supports them with open-access, digital, collection and short-run printing services.
- Why
- The ideas that will define the university of the coming decades are being published now, in every region and in many languages. Too few of them reach the leaders who will decide that future, and too few authors ever stand before those leaders. The Authors’ Corner closes that distance.
- When
- Founded in 2025 and open all year, every year. Membership runs for twelve months from the day a member joins. The Authors’ Corner Selection, chosen by the Editorial Council, is announced every year from 2027.
- Who
- Living authors whose work shapes higher education, in any language; publishers and university presses; university leaders; libraries, institutions and partners in every region of the world.
- How
- Every title passes the review of the Editorial Council. Each member chooses one of four ways to take part: Shelf, Signature, Imprint or Folio. The book is presented wherever the Corner gathers, heard on the video podcast, featured in the digest and carried further by the publishing services.
- Outcome
- A trusted meeting place where the finest thinking on the university reaches the people able to act on it, and where authors and leaders build relationships that last well beyond a single gathering.
The distance the Corner closes
In every region of the world, scholars, practitioners and former university leaders publish serious work on what the university is for and how it must change. Too little of it reaches the leaders who will decide that future. A president or a rector carries the weight of a whole institution and rarely has the hours to search catalogs or follow publishers across continents. An author whose book could change how universities are led may watch it reach a few libraries and a few colleagues. Publishers and university presses believe in their books on higher education, yet lack a continuing channel to the leadership of the sector. The Authors’ Corner is that channel.
The challenge
A world too large to read alone
The university world is the largest community of knowledge on earth, and it thinks and publishes in every language. A leader in Nairobi rarely meets the thinking of an author in Seoul. A press in São Paulo rarely reaches a provost in Amman. Ideas that could travel across systems stay inside them, and the conversation on the university remains fragmented and too often led by a few voices from a few places.
- 35,000+universities
- 200+countries
- 260+ millionstudents
- 15+ millionacademics
- 20+ millionadministrative staff
- 1+ millionexecutives and leaders
More than 80 percent of the world’s universities have no seat at the global table. Their leaders are seldom invited into the conversations where the future of the sector is debated, and their authors are seldom read beyond their own borders. The challenge is therefore one of representation as much as access: whose thinking is heard, and by whom.
What the sector needs is not another event and not another catalog. It needs a trusted place, open all year, where the most relevant thinking on the university is chosen with care, brought before the leaders who can act on it, and kept in the conversation long enough to make a difference. That place is the Authors’ Corner.
Our vision
A higher education sector led by its best ideas: where every university leader has the finest thinking on the future of the university within reach, and every author whose work can shape that future reaches the people able to act on it.
Mission
To build and sustain a year-round bridge between the authors, publishers and presses of higher education and the leaders of the world’s universities: selecting the most relevant work, presenting it wherever leaders gather, and carrying it further and longer through publishing services that serve every region and every language.
A bridge that runs both ways
At the gatheringsa curated shelf where leaders browse, read and take titles home; conversations on stage, signings and small roundtables where a single book opens a candid exchange.
The video podcastevery conversation recorded on video, in person or online, and shared as episodes and clips across the university world.
The digestthe selected books, the arguments at their heart and the conversations of the season, in a form a busy leader can read in minutes.
Publicationsvolumes of essays, perspectives and conversations drawn from the authors and leaders who met in the Corner.
Publishing servicesopen access, digital editions, curated collections for institutions and their libraries, translation, and short-run printing in Antalya, Türkiye, with a year of storage included.
FC27 · WUF Founders' Council 27
Four initiatives, four boards
FC27 works in four tracks. Each track belongs to one WUF initiative and forms its Founding Board. Every participant chooses one initiative when taking a seat.
Where the ideas shaping higher education meet the leaders shaping universities. The track shapes the next chapter of the initiative, prepares the annual Authors’ Corner Selection and hosts the Council’s authors’ evening.
Antalya, Türkiye · 26 to 29 January 2027 · Ducale Lara Resort, Kundu
The initiative
Four commitments
- CurationEvery title is chosen through the review of the Editorial Council, so that leaders can trust that what they find in the Corner deserves their attention. Selection is earned, never bought. It is this trust that gives the shelf its value to leaders and, through them, to every author whose book stands on it.
- PresenceThe Authors’ Corner is part of every gathering of university leaders it joins, from intimate retreats of a few dozen leaders to summits of thousands, wherever in the world they take place. At each one, selected books are presented, authors meet the leaders their work speaks to, and new titles are launched before an audience that shapes institutions.
- ContinuityA gathering lasts a few days. A relationship can last a career. Between gatherings the conversation continues through the video podcast, the digest and the publications, so that a connection made once becomes a lasting relationship between an author and the leaders who read, cite and act on their work.
- ReachPublishing services carry books beyond any single gathering: into institutions and their libraries, across languages and borders, and into the hands of leaders. Open access places important work before every university in the world. Short-run printing in Antalya puts books where the leaders are.
A shelf chosen with care is a gift of time to every leader who visits it.
The initiative
Presence wherever leaders gather
The Authors’ Corner travels with the gatherings of university leaders it joins and gives each of them a place set apart for ideas. At every gathering, the Corner presents its selected books on a curated shelf where leaders browse, read and take titles home. Authors meet leaders in conversation on stage, at signings and in small roundtables where a single book opens a candid exchange among a few dozen presidents and rectors. New titles are launched before the audience that matters most to them.
A book does not need its author in the room to take its place. A title presented on its own is introduced through a recorded video conversation with its author, playing in the Corner and linked from the shelf, and is presented with other selected titles in a curated session. After every gathering, each participant receives a report on how their book was presented and received.
The initiative
The video podcast
Every conversation of the Authors’ Corner is recorded on video, never in sound alone, because an author’s face, voice and conviction carry an argument further than any summary. Authors meet university leaders in conversation, in person at the gatherings of the Corner and online from wherever they are, so that a title presented without its author still brings that author before its audience.
Each conversation lives several lives: as a full episode, as short clips that the author and the leader share with their own communities, as a transcript that can enrich the publications of the Corner, and as a lasting record of the thinking of the year. Every author who shares a clip carries the Corner to new audiences of authors, publishers and leaders. Every guest takes part with a clear agreement on how the recording will be used.
The initiative
Publishing services
Behind the presence and the channels of the Corner stands a full set of publishing services, designed to carry a book further than any single appearance and to keep it in the conversation for longer.
- Open-access editionsImportant work made freely available to universities worldwide, often with the support of a partner who is credited for opening it to all. Open access lets a book reach the leaders of institutions that could never purchase it, in every region.
- Digital editionsTitles placed before leaders wherever they are, and redeemable by every participant of a gathering, so that a book can reach a whole room of leaders without a single carton crossing a border.
- Curated collectionsSelected titles brought together for institutions and their libraries, by theme and by the questions leaders face, so that the thinking of the Corner enters the life of whole universities.
- Short-run printing in AntalyaBooks produced locally for the gatherings of the year, with a full year of storage included at no extra charge, so that a book printed once can serve every gathering of its membership year.
- New editions and translationsA book carried into another language and launched before the leaders who will read it there.
Selection is earned, never bought
Every title is reviewed by the Editorial Council, which draws its members from every region and judges each book on its value to the leaders of higher education. Membership decides how a selected book takes part. Only the Editorial Council decides whether it is selected. From 2027, the Council announces the Authors’ Corner Selection every year: the titles of the year it considers most valuable to the leaders of higher education.
The initiative
The Authors’ Corner Selection
From 2027, the Editorial Council will announce the Authors’ Corner Selection every year: the titles of the year that the Council considers most valuable to the leaders of higher education, chosen from the books presented in the Corner. The Selection is announced at the close of each year and recognized before the leaders of the world’s universities. It gives authors and publishers a distinction that is earned on merit alone, and gives leaders a trusted reading list for the year ahead.
The Selection cannot be bought. It can only be earned, and that is why leaders will read it.
Why now
The Authors’ Corner began in 2025 as a corner within WUF’s gatherings of university leaders, where authors shaping the thinking on the future of the university could meet the people who lead it. The response of authors, publishers and leaders showed that the need was larger than any single gathering. In 2026 it became a year-round initiative of the World Universities Foundation, with its own channels, services and membership, open to authors and publishers in every region and every language.
- A decade of decisionsArtificial intelligence, climate, access, financing and public trust are reshaping the university at once. The decisions taken in these years will define institutions for a generation, and deserve the deepest thinking available.
- Publishing has become globalOpen access, digital editions and curated collections now allow a book to travel to every university in the world. The means exist; what is missing is the trusted channel that brings the right book to the right leader.
- Relationships hold the valueFor authors and publishers, lasting access to decision makers now matters more than any single appearance. The Corner is built for the relationship, not the moment.
The decisions taken in these years will define the university for a generation.
Four ways to take part
Membership is a full year with the Corner, wherever it appears, beginning on the day a member joins. Each member chooses how present they wish to be.
Every member receives a Certificate of Selection on final approval and a year-end report on how the book was presented and received. Current terms are published by the Authors’ Corner.
- Shelf
- The book takes its place without anyone attending: on the curated shelf at every gathering of the year, introduced by a recorded video conversation with its author, and featured in the digest.
- Signature
- The author or the publisher attends: conversations with leaders, signings and a recording for the video podcast in person.
- Imprint
- Author and publisher attend together, with priority for stage conversations and roundtables.
- Folio
- Full presence through the whole year, gift copies placed in the hands of leaders, and a launch before an audience of university leaders.
How it works
A year with the Authors’ Corner
Membership of the Authors’ Corner is a full year with the Corner, wherever it appears: at every gathering of university leaders it joins, through its channels and through its services. The year begins on the day a member joins and runs for twelve months, so that every member receives a full year whatever the season.
Membership is not tied to any single gathering or set of gatherings. As the Corner joins new gatherings in new regions, its members are present at every one of them. What membership guarantees does not depend on travel: every member title is presented throughout the year, whether or not its author or publisher attends.
- Selected and certifiedEvery member title passes the review of the Editorial Council and receives a Certificate of Selection, ready to share, on final approval.
- Presented all yearThe member’s book travels with the Corner and is presented at every gathering of the membership year, as many as there are.
- Heard and seenA conversation on the video podcast, a feature in the digest and a place in curated collections.
- MeasuredA year-end report on how the book was presented and received, with priority for launches and stage conversations, and member terms on every publishing service.
A member who never travels still has a full year of presence. A member who travels has a seat wherever the Corner gathers.
How it works
Additions that open new doors
Any way of taking part can be extended with additions that open new doors for a book.
- Gift copiesA book placed in the hands of every leader at a gathering, or across several, printed in Antalya or shipped by its publisher. A book received from the hand of its author is a book remembered.
- Book launchA premiere before an audience of university leaders, with the first copies presented, a launch episode of the video podcast and the attention of the Corner before and after.
- New edition or translationA title carried into another language and launched where its new readers gather.
- Open-access editionA title opened to every university in the world, with credit to the partner who makes it possible.
How it works
Residencies and launches
Some of the most valuable moments of the Corner happen at its smallest scale. At leadership retreats, where a few dozen leaders spend several days together, an author in residence leads open conversations around their book, joins leaders at the table and in the evening, and becomes, for those days, a colleague rather than a speaker. A residency is the most intimate form of presence the Corner offers, and the one leaders remember longest.
At the other end of the scale, the largest gatherings give the Corner its stage. There a new book can be launched before an audience of leaders from every region, with its first copies presented, its author in conversation and its launch carried by the video podcast and the digest to the whole community of the Corner.
Four simple rules
Living authors. Books in any language. Up to three authors per publisher. Every title reviewed by the Editorial Council.
How it works
Joining
- SubmitSubmit your book to the Editorial Council for review.
- SelectionSelected titles receive the Certificate of Selection.
- ChooseChoose Shelf, Signature, Imprint or Folio, and any additions.
- ConfirmConfirm your membership. The year begins and your book takes its place.
Who meets in the Corner
Authors, publishers and university presses; presidents, rectors, vice-chancellors and provosts; libraries and institutions; and partners who support open access, gift copies and the programs of the Corner, from every region of the world and in every language.
The Authors’ Corner was founded in 2025 by Prof. Bassem Khafagy as a corner within WUF’s gatherings of university leaders, and became a year-round initiative of the World Universities Foundation, based in Antalya.
Stakeholders and beneficiaries
The Authors’ Corner represents the entire world: authors and leaders of every region, every type of university and every language. Each group that meets in the Corner brings something the others need, and each leaves with more than it brought.
- AuthorsLiving authors whose books explore the university and its future bring their ideas, their research and their experience. They gain a year before the leaders their work speaks to: conversations, signings, an episode of the video podcast, a feature in the digest and, for the finest titles, a place in the Selection.
- PublishersPublishers bring their lists and their authors. They gain a continuing channel to the leadership of higher education, meetings with leaders interested in their fields, and evidence of how their titles were presented and received.
- University pressesUniversity presses bring the scholarship of their universities. They gain reach to decision makers far beyond their own systems, and a shelf on which their titles stand beside the work of the world’s leading publishers.
- University leadersPresidents, rectors, vice-chancellors and provosts bring their questions, their judgment and their experience. They gain the finest thinking on their decisions, chosen with care, and direct conversation with the authors behind it.
- Libraries and institutionsLibraries and institutions bring their readers and their collections. They gain curated titles on the future of the university, in print, digital and open-access editions.
- PartnersPartners bring support for open access, gift copies and programs. They gain lasting association with the ideas that shape universities in every region.
The Corner is not a marketplace of books. It is a meeting of minds across the university world.
Stakeholders and beneficiaries
Open to every author whose work explores the university
The shelf of the Authors’ Corner is open to every living author whose work explores the university, in any language and from any region. A first book from a new university stands on the same shelf, and is heard with the same respect, as the work of the most established author. The Corner welcomes scholarship, reflection and practice alike, across the questions that leaders face.
- 01The future of the university
- 02Leadership and governance
- 03Teaching and learning
- 04Research and innovation
- 05Technology and artificial intelligence
- 06Climate and sustainability
- 07Wisdom and ethics in academia
- 08Access and inclusion
- 09Universities and society
Value and expected outcomes
The value of the Authors’ Corner grows with every year it runs. Each gathering adds books to its shelf, conversations to its library and relationships to its community, and each year of the Selection adds to the authority of its judgment.
- In the short term, 2026 to 2027
The year membership opens to authors and publishers in every region. The video podcast and the digest are established and find their audience among leaders. The first gatherings place the Corner at their heart, and the publishing services become available to every member. The first Authors’ Corner Selection is announced at the close of 2027.
- In the medium term, 2028 to 2030
The Corner is present at gatherings of university leaders across the world. Curated collections enter institutions and their libraries. Translations and open-access editions grow every year, and the library of recorded conversations becomes a resource in its own right for leaders, authors and scholars.
- In the long term, the decade ahead
The Authors’ Corner becomes the trusted meeting place of ideas and leaders in higher education. Every region and every language is present on its shelf. Its publications form a body of thinking on the future of the university, and its community of authors and leaders endures across careers.
When the best ideas reach the leaders who decide, the university changes for the better.
Value and expected outcomes
Value on both sides of the bridge
The Authors’ Corner succeeds only if both sides of its bridge gain. Leaders must find in it a source of thinking worth their scarce time, and authors and publishers must find in it a relationship worth a year of their commitment. Every part of its design serves that balance.
- For authors, a year before the leaders their work speaks to, a voice on the video podcast, a Certificate of Selection to share and the chance of a place in the annual Selection.
- For publishers and presses, a continuing presence with the leadership of higher education and evidence of how their titles were received.
- For university leaders, a curated source of the finest thinking on their decisions and direct conversation with the authors behind it.
- For institutions, collections and editions that bring that thinking into their own communities.
- For the university world, ideas that travel across regions, languages and systems, and a shared conversation on its future.
Roadmap and timeline
- 2025FoundedThe Authors’ Corner is founded by Prof. Bassem Khafagy as a corner within WUF’s gatherings of university leaders.
- 2026A year-round initiativeThe Corner becomes an initiative of the World Universities Foundation, with its channels, its publishing services and the year membership.
- 2027The first full yearMembership open worldwide. The Corner at the heart of gatherings of university leaders, the video podcast and the digest in full rhythm, and the first Authors’ Corner Selection announced at the close of the year.
- 2028 onwardEvery yearNew gatherings, regions and languages; collections in institutions; publications on the future of the university; the Selection announced every year.
Risks, assumptions and safeguards
The Authors’ Corner rests on a few assumptions: that leaders will make time for thinking chosen with care, that authors and publishers value lasting relationships over single appearances, and that a shelf open to the whole world can keep a single standard. Each carries a risk, and each risk is met by design.
| Risk | Safeguard |
|---|---|
| The shelf losing its standard | Review of every title by the Editorial Council, and a Selection that cannot be bought. |
| Presence that depends on travel | A full year of presence for every member, whether or not they attend. |
| A few publishers filling the shelf | No publisher presents more than three authors. |
| Some regions and languages unheard | Books in every language, and authors and leaders from every region, on equal terms. |
| Books that fade after one day | The video podcast, the digest, collections and publications carry each title through the year. |
| Partners shaping the content | Partners support books and programs; they never decide what is selected. |
| Conflicts with host gatherings | WUF reviews every partnership of the Corner, and host gatherings keep their own partners’ recognition. |
| Use of recorded conversations | Every conversation is recorded with the agreement of those who take part. |
Take your place
Write to connect@w-u-f.org.
- Authorssubmit your book to the Editorial Council and spend a year in conversation with the leaders of higher education.
- Publishers and university pressespresent your authors and your list to the leadership of the world’s universities.
- University leaderstake your seat in the conversation and bring the finest thinking to your institution.
- Partnersstand behind open access, gift copies and the programs that serve universities in every region.
The Authors' Corner PDF · 28 pages
Where the ideas shaping higher education meet the leaders shaping universities.
