Carnegie Corporation of New York announced today the appointment of Neil R. Grabois, currently president of Colgate University, as its new vice president and director for strategic planning and program coordination.
Under president Vartan Gregorian, Grabois will be responsible for the direction, conduct, and evaluation of all programs of the grantmaking foundation, which annually gives away $60 million to colleges and universities and independent nonprofit organizations for educational and other purposes. He will serve as a member of Carnegie Corporation's senior management team, together with the vice president and chief administrative officer and the vice president and chief investment officer.
Grabois' appointment was made after a wide-ranging national search and the consideration of more than 300 applications from high-level foundation executives, diplomats, academics, government officials, and university administrators. Commented President Gregorian, "I am delighted to have been able to persuade a person of such stature as my colleague Neil Grabois to join us in the work of this foundation. He is one of the outstanding university leaders in the country. His career in higher education, as both a professor of mathematics and college administrator, has been marked by brilliance and high achievement at every turn. We welcome him to this new venture in a private foundation and look forward to his partnership in dealing with the important social and educational challenges facing our nation."
Said Grabois, "I am very grateful to President Gregorian and to Carnegie Corporation for giving me the opportunity to use my experience as an educator in advancing the foundation's vision and commitments, not only in liberal arts education but the reform of public schools, the strengthening of democracy, world peace and security, and international development -- all matters of the utmost importance to our nation's future."
The appointment of Grabois culminates a year-and-a-half-long examination and restructuring of the foundation's programs and operations, which is placing renewed emphasis on the aims and functions of higher education, nationally and internationally. The Corporation's leadership now includes two former university presidents. Gregorian was president of Brown University before joining the foundation in June 1997. The chairman of the board, Tom Kean, is president of Drew University.
"Grabois will bring intelligence, integrity, and ability to the Carnegie family," Kean declared, adding that he and the new vice president have been friends and colleagues for ten years. "We are delighted that he will be working with us."
Also commenting on Grabois' appointment was Wm. Brian Little, chairman of Colgate's board of trustees, who said, "Neil Grabois has been a great president for Colgate, having left his mark on the institution in so many positive ways. We have nothing but appreciation and gratitude for his eleven years of valuable service. At the same time, we are excited about this new challenge he has accepted and wish him all the success in the world."
Grabois, who was born in 1935, graduated from Swarthmore College in 1957, receiving his M.A. degree (1959) and Ph.D. degree (1963) in mathematics from the University of Pennsylvania. From 1957 to the present, he has taught mathematics, first at the University of Pennsylvania, then at Lafayette College, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Williams College, and Colgate. Before coming to Colgate as its president in 1988, he was for twenty-five years associated with Williams College, where he was Thomas T. Read Professor of Mathematics and chairman of the Department of Mathematical Sciences.
At Williams, he also served as dean of the college from 1970 to 1975 and dean of the faculty from 1975 to 1976. He was provost twice, from 1977 to 1980 and from 1983 to 1988. His many professional activities include membership on the board of directors of the Association of American Colleges (1991-), the Advisory Council of the Mathematics Department at Princeton University (1988-), the Screening Committee for the Charles A. Dana Awards in Higher Education (1985-1990), and the Pew Charitable Trusts Science Advisory Committee (1987-).
Grabois has served on the Governor's Task Force on Economic Development of the Northern Berkshires, the New England Association of Colleges and Schools; and the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, among other voluntary activities.
He will join the Corporation full time at the end of June 1999. Until then, he will be commuting between the Colgate campus in Hamilton, New York, and the Corporation's offices.
Carnegie Corporation of New York was established by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 for the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding. Its current assets are approximately $1.5 billion.