Trustees Extend President Schapiro's Contract

EVANSTON, Ill. --- The Northwestern University Board of Trustees has extended the contract of President Morton Schapiro for five additional years, William A. Osborn, Chair of the Board, announced today (Oct. 29). The new agreement extends President Schapiro’s contract to Aug. 31, 2019.

“President Schapiro has done an outstanding job since coming to Northwestern, and we are pleased that he will continue to lead the University at this important time in Northwestern’s history,” Osborn said.

President Schapiro was named the 16th president of Northwestern in December 2008 and began his term Sept. 1, 2009. He is a professor of economics in Northwestern's Judd A. and Marjorie Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and teaches classes regularly in that school. He also holds appointments in Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management and in the School of Education and Social Policy. 

“Throughout its 161-year history, Northwestern has been fortunate to have presidents who were superb leaders and who also made a long-term commitment to guide this University. By extending his contract, we are ensuring that President Schapiro will maintain this tradition by continuing to provide inspiring leadership for years to come,” Osborn said. “We have an exciting strategic plan to guide us for the rest of this decade, and with President Schapiro at Northwestern’s helm, the board is confident we will achieve our ambitious goals.”

“I am honored by the faith the trustees have placed in me, first by selecting me to lead this great University, and now by this action,” President Schapiro said. “Northwestern has an extraordinarily bright future, and I am excited to be part of it. My family loves it here, and there is no place I would rather be.”

President Schapiro is among the nation's leading authorities on the economics of higher education, with particular expertise in the area of college financing and affordability. He has testified before U.S. Senate and House committees on economic and educational issues and is widely quoted in the national media on those issues. In 2010, President Schapiro was elected as a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the nation's oldest and most prestigious honorary societies.

President Schapiro previously was president of Williams College from 2000 to 2009. Earlier he had served as a member of the Williams College faculty from 1980 to 1991, as professor of economics and as assistant provost. In 1991 he went to the University of Southern California, where he served as chair of the department of economics until 1994, and then as dean of the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences until 2000. During his last two years as dean, he also served as the university's vice president for planning.

President Schapiro has written more than 100 articles and five books, and he has edited two others, most with his longtime co-author Michael McPherson. These include: “The Student Aid Game: Meeting Need and Rewarding Talent in American Higher Education” (Princeton University Press, 1998); “Paying the Piper: Productivity, Incentives and Financing in Higher Education” (also with Gordon Winston, University of Michigan Press, 1993) and “Keeping College Affordable: Government and Educational Opportunity” (Brookings, 1991), plus two recent edited volumes “College Success: What It Means and How to Make It Happen” (College Board, 2008) and “College Access: Opportunity or Privilege?” (College Board, 2006). 

President Schapiro has received research grants and contracts from the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Education, the World Bank, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Spencer Foundation, the College Board, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and other groups to study the economics of higher education and related topics.

He received his bachelor's degree in economics from Hofstra University and his doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania.