Joseph Aoun (born March 26, 1953)[1] is a Lebanese-born American linguist and academic administrator who serves as the 7th president of Northeastern University since August 2006.

The program was 8-26 in its preceding three seasons and faced declining attendance and high costs if it wished to remain competitive in recruiting.

The move, while controversial, was generally considered positive in retrospect; the funding it freed up allowed for the construction of the Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Complex, which played more directly into Northeastern's strengths.

In Robot-Proof, Aoun proposes a way to educate the next generation of college students to invent, to create, and to discover—to fill needs in society that even the most sophisticated artificial intelligence agent cannot.

Rather, it fosters a creative mindset and the mental elasticity to invent, discover, or create something valuable to society—a scientific proof, a hip-hop recording, a web comic, a cure for cancer.