Education

Northwestern University Picks Purdue’s Mung Chiang to be New President

Mung Chiang, a renowned researcher, educator and university leader is set to become the first ever Asian American president of Northwestern University.

The university on Monday announced that Chiang, who has served as Purdue University president since 2023, has been named as Northwestern’s 18th president.

He emerged from the field of candidates following an “extensive global search” led by the university’s Board of Trustees as well as faculty, staff, alumni and the student body.

“I am honored and thrilled to be Northwestern’s next president,” Chiang said in a statement Monday. “I have long admired Northwestern for its dedication to interdisciplinary scholarship, artistic creation and impactful research, its tremendous healthcare system, and its palpable school spirit.

Northwestern officials said Chiang has established himself throughout his career as a world-class researcher, educator, innovator and university leader who has focused on “expanding discovery, supporting students and faculty, championing free expression and preparing universities for the future.”

Chiang earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Stanford and later spent 14 years at Princeton University, rising from assistant professor to one of its youngest chair professors, according to Northwestern.

Chiang was named as the dean of Purdue’s college of engineering in 2017. Four years later, he was tapped to become the university’s executive vice president for strategic initiatives and was then named as its president in June 2022.

Northwestern on Monday said Chiang is a first-generation immigrant and has consistently prioritized free speech and free expression as essential to driving excellence at scale.

“Through his stellar academic and administrative leadership at multiple institutions, Mung has demonstrated his ability to harness opportunity and momentum while embracing the breadth and depth of a university,” Peter Barris, chair of Northwestern’s Board of Trustees, said in a statement. “My fellow board members could not be more thrilled for Mung to lead Northwestern into the future.”

Henry Bienen, who took over as president on an interim basis following former president Michael Schill’s resignation last September, will remain interim president through the end of June and Chiang will begin his presidency July 1.

Schill led Northwestern through periods of turmoil that included student protests, a widespread hazing scandal within the athletic department and federal funding cuts that forced layoffs. He was expected to take a sabbatical upon stepping down, but will return to teach and conduct research as a faculty member at Northwestern’s Pritzker School of Law.

Chiang said his first priority is to “listen to and learn about Northwestern’s distinct culture and this community of scholarly and creative minds, because what matters most is the ‘who’ before the ‘what.”

“I plan to engage with as many members of our community as possible: students and parents, faculty and staff, alumni and donors, neighbors and partners, as well as all the trustees,” he said. “I will listen to every one of the 12 colleges and schools, cheer every one of the 21 sports teams, visit Northwestern Medicine hospitals, and participate in every cherished campus tradition.”

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