Schools

Eisgruber Installed as 20th President of Princeton University

Eisgruber succeeds Shirley Tilghman, who retired in June.


Former Princeton University Provost Christopher L. Eisgruber was installed as President on Sunday, Sept. 22 in front of more than 1,000 people in front of Nassau Hall, according to University officials.

Eisgruber's three immediate predecessors were present — former presidents Shirley Tilghman, Harold Shapiro and William Bowen. 

"I am honored to accept the presidency of this, our beloved University," said Eisgruber, '83, according to a report by Princeton University. "I will work with you enthusiastically to sustain the excellence of what we are doing now; to realize more perfectly the ideals to which we are committed; and to demonstrate by argument and deed the extraordinary value of Princeton University, and of all the colleges and universities that help to bring out the best in the people of this country and this world."

Eisgruber was appointed at a special meeting of the University's Board of Trustees on July 1 on the unanimous recommendation of a 17-member search committee following a more than six-month search. 

"Chris Eisgruber has all of the qualities we were looking for in Princeton's next president," said Kathryn Hall, chairwoman of the University's board of trustees and head of the presidential search committee, in the spring. "He has keen intelligence and excellent judgment; he cares passionately about teaching and research of the highest quality; he is deeply committed to principles of excellence, equity and integrity; and he is devoted to Princeton. 

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The committee wanted a new president who could not only carry forward's Princeton success but also set a strategic course for the University, Hall said. 

On Sunday, Eisgruber said Princeton must be a leader to the ideals of a liberal arts university and not sacrifice long term goals for short term gains. 

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"Great teachers, and great universities, make extraordinary investments in students and research in anticipation of future benefits that are usually unknowable and occasionally implausible," Eisgruber said, according to Princeton University.

Eisgruber earned his undergraduate degree from Princeton in 1983 with a major in physics, spent two years at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, and then received his law degree from the University of Chicago.

After clerking for U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Patrick Higginbotham and U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens and teaching at New York University Law School for 11 years, he joined the Princeton faculty in 2001 as a professor and director of the Program in Law and Public Affairs.

He was named Princeton’s 11th provost in 2004 and in that capacity has been the University’s second-ranking official and its chief academic and budgetary officer.

A renowned constitutional scholar, whose most recent books examined the Supreme Court appointments process and religious freedom and the constitution, he is also a teacher who continued to teach as provost.

His wife, Lori A. Martin, is a securities litigator with the firm of WilmerHale, and they have a teenage son, Danny.

The installation ceremony and Eisgruber's address will be archived online and available for viewing on the University's WebMedia site.


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