At a Glance

  • Brown University President Christina Paxson, who has led the Ivy League school since 2012, announced Monday that she plans to step down at the end of the 2026-27 academic year.
  • Her contract extension was originally set to end in June 2028. But she informed the board of trustees, known as the Brown Corporation, that she believes it is the right time for a new leader to take over, according to Chancellor Brian Moynihan.
  • During her tenure, Paxson has guided Brown through turbulent times, including the COVID-19 pandemic, pro-Palestinian protest encampments on campus, and federal funding freezes and disruptions.

Impact

Moynihan said Monday that Brown plans to engage the Brown community in a national search for Paxson's successor, who will become the university's 20th president. The university is also preparing to launch a strategic planning process for the future—which, according to Moynihan, was one of the main reasons behind Paxson's decision to step down.

"She firmly believes—and the Corporation and I agree—that now is the right time to find a new president to lead Brown through this multi-year effort and realize its vision for the next generation," Moynihan wrote.

According to a 2023 report by the American Council on Education, the average tenure of university presidents has shortened to 5.9 years over the past two decades. In contrast, Paxson will have led Brown for nearly 15 years when she steps down. She called it "a significant tenure for any president" in her statement Monday.

Background

Despite Moynihan's praise for Paxson, she has not always been popular among undergraduates, according to an annual student poll conducted by the student newspaper, The Brown Daily Herald. Her approval rating reached its highest recorded point in fall 2017, when 62% of surveyed undergraduates said they approved or strongly approved of Paxson.

That semester, Brown launched a plan to eliminate loans from undergraduate financial aid packages starting in the 2018-19 academic year. Moynihan praised this initiative on Monday, along with other affordability measures, such as eliminating tuition for students from families earning $125,000 or less annually in 2021.

But by spring 2024, Paxson's approval rating had plummeted to 16%. That academic year, protests over the Israel-Hamas war erupted nationwide. At Brown, students set up an encampment, calling on the university to divest from companies linked to Israel. Brown's leadership agreed to consider a divestment proposal to end the encampment, but the Corporation ultimately voted down the plan in October 2024.

The following year, the Trump administration reportedly planned to suspend more than $500 million in federal research funding to Brown over allegations of campus antisemitism. Paxson said in a letter to the campus community Monday that she agreed in May 2025 to extend her contract beyond its original June 2026 end date to help the university navigate the funding freeze. Brown eventually reached an agreement to restore access to its federal research funding, including agreeing to pay $50 million to workforce development programs in Rhode Island and provide detailed admissions data to the Trump administration, among other measures.

Her most recent approval rating rebounded to nearly 38% in spring 2026, according to The Herald.

"Although the federal environment remains uncertain for all universities, Brown is securing major grants for cutting-edge research that will drive tremendous innovation for this country," Paxson said in her letter to the Brown community Monday.

Focus

In recent years, the role of university president has become more complex, with leaders needing to navigate a politically charged environment. This is especially true at elite universities like Brown, which have been under scrutiny from the Trump administration. Whoever takes over will likely have to contend with some of the same political hurdles Paxson faced, including government investigations and student protests.