Higher education is going through as significant a change as at any time in the last century. Recommendations about how to resolve these issues have been offered by numerous government commissions, think tanks and foundations. A seldom used approach is to look back to consider what others have said and suggested in previous eras. The author considers if John Henry Newman's "The idea of a university" has relevance today. "The idea of a university" is considered one of the most important books about higher education ever written. The author first discusses Newman's life and then outlines the ideas in the book. The discussion centres on (1) the nature of knowledge, (2) how belief functions and (3) what students should learn. The article concludes with the use of Newman's ideas for leaders in the twentieth century. Writers as diverse as James Joyce and Edward Said have looked to Newman's work for what it has to say about academic life. In particular, Newman's argument for the role of the academic in contemporary life, the importance of scholarly engagement with competing ideas and the necessity for a curriculum that is broad, yet coherent, are suggested as key points to consider during the current challenges that face the academy. From the perspective advanced here, leadership pertains to speaking out on the issues of the day and developing a culture of dialogue and debate rather than remaining silent or adhering to technocratic approaches to teaching and learning.