A familiar face will continue to occupy the president’s office at Brown University for the next two years.
Brown President Christina H. Paxson’s contract was set to end on June 30, 2026, but the university’s Corporation unanimously approved a two-year extension earlier this month, according to a letter sent by Chancellor Brian T. Moynihan to the Brown community on Tuesday.
Paxson’s contract will now last through June 30, 2028. Paxson was compensated nearly $1.8 million in 2022, according to the Brown Daily Herald. That represented a 14% decrease from Paxson’s record compensation of more than $2 million in 2021, the Herald reported.
“During a tumultuous time facing American higher education, Brown is fortunate to benefit from President Paxson’s steady and principled leadership,” Moynihan wrote. “We are excited that the University will continue to benefit from her strategic vision, boundless energy, unwavering dedication and fortitude during periods of momentous change. Our community has been made stronger by her sincere belief in all the good that Brown can do in the world.”
The Corporation of Brown University is the school’s equivalent of a board of trustees. Terms for presidents can be extended at any time with mutual agreement from both the Corporation and the president, according to Moynihan’s letter. The chancellor noted a “vigorous” consensus among Corporation members for Paxson’s continued tenure, based on her accomplishments in the past 13 years.
Paxson, who became Brown’s 19th president in 2012, earned her doctorate in economics from Columbia University in 1987. Before joining Brown, she served as dean of Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. At Princeton, she founded the school’s Center for Health and Wellbeing and served as its director for nine years. She also founded and directed the school’s Center for the Economics and Demography of Aging.
Paxson’s major initiatives have included a wide-ranging campus equity initiative known as Pathways to Diversity and Inclusion, and the Brown Promise, which eliminated loans from the university’s financial aid packages. During her tenure Paxson has overseen the launch of the Brown Arts Institute, Data Science Initiative, and the Jonathan M. Nelson Center for Entrepreneurship.
“The uncertainty of the times we are in, while challenging, has reaffirmed my belief in our mission and the dedication of Brown faculty, students and staff to serve the community, the nation and the world with distinction,” Paxson said in a statement. “Having the opportunity to lead this great university continues to be a privilege and an honor, and the work we have done together has been both fulfilling and inspirational.”
Paxson’s research bibliography includes economic analyses of early-life poverty, health, educational attainment, and other factors’ influence on long-term outcomes in health, income and inequality. Papers by Paxson have investigated the socioeconomic impact of Hurricane Katrina, how a dearth of health services exacerbated the AIDS pandemic in Africa, and how rural Thai households managed their savings income amid agricultural dry spells. The first article listed in Paxson’s CV is a 1986 study she co-authored that examined how differences in work hours were driven mainly by the kinds of jobs people held, rather than by personal preferences or life circumstances.
This story was originally published by the Rhode Island Current.
