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Kerwin named 14th
AU president
BY SALLY ACHARYA
Photo by Jeff Watts
President elect Neil Kerwin shakes hands with Chairman of the Board Gary Abramson
Cornelius M. Kerwin was named president of American University on Friday, July 20, by unanimous vote of the Board of Trustees. The announcement was greeted with ringing cheers and several standing ovations from staff and faculty who packed the Abramson Family Recital Hall to hear that the longtime professor, dean, provost, and interim president would become the university’s fourteenth president on Sept. 1.
Kerwin has spent his academic career at AU, where he earned a BA in 1971 and began teaching in 1975 in the School of Public Affairs (SPA). “It’s really difficult to express what it means to me to stand here today,” Kerwin told the gathered crowd.
He pledged to be “true to our mission” and ensure that AU will continue to be an integral part of Washington, a presence on the national stage, and a university with global reach. He also pledged to begin work quickly on the university’s next strategic plan.
“I know this is not the time to develop an elaborate plan for the university’s future, but when it is, it will be with the full participation of every constituency on campus,” he said to sustained applause.
Elaborating at a later press conference, Kerwin said that he plans to be a “visible leader” who values transparency, stresses communication, and will “interact often, and in as many setting as possible” with the campus community. “You can never communicate enough,” he said.
The Board of Trustees received more than 100 applications for the president’s position during the yearlong search, said trustee John Schol. “We believe we are fortunate to have the right person at the right time to take AU forward,” said Chairman of the Board Gary Abramson.
Kerwin earned an MA in political science from the University of Rhode Island in 1973 and a PhD from Johns Hopkins University in 1978. He is a nationally recognized specialist in public policy and the regulatory process. His books include Rulemaking: How Government Agencies Write Law and Make Policy. He served as SPA dean from 1988 to 1997 and then university provost until 2005, when he was named acting and later interim president.
Kerwin’s longtime bonds with the campus extend to his family. AU is where he met his wife, Ann, CAS/‘71, and one of his sons is a 2005 graduate. Alumni Association president Brian Keane, SPA/SOC ’89, greeted the announcement with enthusiasm. “It’s absolutely fantastic—not just that an alum is going to be president, but this particular alum,” Keane said. “I really think he has the vision and passion to take this university to the next level.”
Newly elected staff council president Kelvin Wilson noted Kerwin’s inclusiveness, saying it will be wonderful “just for staff to be a voice in decisions . . . to be at the table.”
There is a feeling among students that Kerwin shares their values and is accessible, said Student Government president Joe Vidulich, SPA ’08. “He’s a friend of the students. There’s no greater feeling than to know that someone who walked the halls of AU as a student will be the one handing me my diploma,” Vidulich said. “This is the best thing that could happen to AU.”
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