[4] Sexton has been called a "transformational" figure in higher education and was named by Time Magazine as one of the United States' 10 best college presidents.

In 2000, Kent D. Syverud, then-dean of the Vanderbilt University Law School, called John Sexton the most effective dean of his generation.

[7] Sexton has served as chair of several major higher education organizations, including the Association of American Law Schools, the American Council on Education, the Independent Colleges and Universities of New York State, the New York Academy of Sciences, and the University of the People President's Council.

[8] Throughout his time as dean and president of NYU, Sexton continued to teach a full faculty schedule (at least four courses) and to write books and articles.

[11][12] Since stepping down as NYU's president, Sexton has continued to teach a full schedule and write both for the academic and popular press.

[25] Sexton was named the 15th president of New York University by NYU's Board of Trustees on May 8, 2001, two months after then-President L. Jay Oliva announced that he was stepping down.

In addition to his duties as NYU President, Sexton has taught a full faculty schedule — at least four courses — every year since 1981 without sabbatical.

[11][26][27] He teaches both law students and undergraduates across NYU's Global Network in New York and Abu Dhabi[28][29][30] and has taught classes in Shanghai.

[31] A book based on one of the courses, Baseball as a Road to God, was published in 2013[32] He also taught a year-long course on the American Constitution, religion, and government for the Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan Scholars Program (for outstanding undergraduate students in United Arab Emirates' institutions of higher learning who are selected for special academic and leadership opportunities).

In 2014, NYU received a record number of prospective applicants for freshman admission for the seventh straight year in a row.

[35] In 2004, Sexton announced a program — the Partners Plan — to expand tenured and tenure-track faculty in the arts and sciences by 20%,[36] the largest such expansion in the university's history.

[53] Sexton discussed the idea of the Global Network University at length in late 2009 with Richard Heffner on The Open Mind (TV series).

[71] Sexton is also a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and on the advisory board of the Genesis Prize Foundation.

[62] In June 2008, NYU published Framework 2031,[76] which reviewed and addressed the key issues, concerns, and opportunities the university would confront over the two-plus decades leading to its bicentennial.

Increases in the size of the student body and program development that began to accelerate in the 1990s sparked resistance in the Greenwich Village neighborhood, as community members opposed NYU's expansion projects.

[78] In March 2011, NYU announced updates to its plans to expand over the coming two decades, and in particular its proposal for the two "superblocks" near its campus core.

[95] In the preceding years, there was controversy at NYU over the issue of collective bargaining and union representation for TAs as well as research assistants (RAs).

[105] Sexton co-edits the textbook Civil Procedure: Cases and Materials, now in its thirteenth edition (with John Cound, Jack Friedenthal, Helen Hershkoff, and Arthur R. Miller), which is widely used in law schools throughout the United States.

[108] Sexton authored Baseball as a Road to God: Seeing Beyond the Game with Thomas Oliphant and Peter J. Schwartz, a New York Times bestselling non-fiction book published in 2013.

The book is based on an NYU undergraduate course that Sexton teaches of the same name, which uses baseball as a vehicle to examine the formative material of religion.

[11] His most recent book is Standing For Reason: The University in a Dogmatic Age, which former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called "an incisive analysis of the collapse of political discourse" provided by "one of the leading educators of our time.

"[109] This work was based on Sexton's "Reflections on Higher Education" published periodically over the course of his presidency of NYU.

[110] Sexton has received numerous commendations from NYU in recognition of his contributions to the university, including the 2015 Judge Edward Weinfeld Award (NYU School of Law's highest honor);[111] the 2016 Eugene J. Keogh Award for Distinguished Public Service;[112] and the 2019 Albert Gallatin Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Society (the university's highest honor).

[134] That July, he appeared on Charlie Rose (talk show) to discuss the Global Network University, NYU's Abu Dhabi campus, and the state of public discourse, among other topics.

[135] As president of NYU, Sexton discussed the nature of the university recurringly on The Open Mind (TV series).

[145] Sexton's marriage to author Kathleen B. Jones, whom he met while a debate coach at St. Brendan's High School,[146] was annulled after five years.

Ms. Goldberg, who became president of the Charles H. Revson Foundation, died suddenly of a brain aneurysm on January 21, 2007, at age 54.

[149][150] Sexton's older child, Jed, is a Harvard graduate, an actor, and math teacher; in 2021, he entered law school and works on pro bono legal matters.

[154] Thomas Oliphant's New York Times Bestseller Praying for Gil Hodges briefly mentions that Sexton grew up as a Brooklyn Dodgers fan.

Sexton was one of a number of celebrities who reminisced about their baseball memories on the HBO special Brooklyn Dodgers - Ghosts of Flatbush.