Education
Ex-Northwestern Leader Henry Bienen Named University’s Interim President
(WTTW News)
Henry Bienen, who previously served as Northwestern’s president for more than a decade, is rejoining the university as its interim leader following the resignation of current president Michael Schill.
The Evanston university on Tuesday announced that Bienen will begin serving as its interim president Sept. 16.
“I am honored to be asked to serve Northwestern again, and I look forward to helping the University I love so dearly navigate what is a critical and difficult time for research universities,” he said in a statement. “I care a great deal about the Northwestern community, which has been a major part of my life for more than 30 years.”
Bienen was previously a professor of management and strategy in the Kellogg School of Management and served as the university’s 15th president from 1995 until 2009.
He’ll temporarily replace Schill, who announced last week he would be stepping down from his position after three years with Northwestern during which time the university faced unprecedented challenges including student protests, a widespread hazing scandal within the athletic department and federal funding cuts that forced hundreds of layoffs.
Schill is set to return to the university to teach and conduct research while Northwestern’s Board of Trustees conducts a search for his permanent replacement.
The board on Tuesday said it would share more information on that search “when it is available.”
Bienen has served as a member of numerous organizations including the Chicago Board of Education, the Council on Foreign Relations and the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.
According to Northwestern, he has also been a consultant to several government organizations including the U.S. Department of State, the National Security Council, the Central Intelligence Agency and the World Bank, and served on the executive committee of Steppenwolf Theatre. The university’s Henry and Leigh Bienen School of Music was named in honor of Bienen and his wife in 2008.
Most recently, Bienen served as president of the Poetry Foundation in Chicago from 2015 to 2020.
“We believe Henry is uniquely suited to follow President Michael Schill’s tenure and continue to support the University,” Peter Barris, chair of Northwestern’s Board of Trustees, said in a statement. “With more than three decades of service to our community, Henry has a deep knowledge of Northwestern and shares our love and passion for the institution.”
