PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Brown University President Christina H. Paxson has been elected to the board of directors for the American Council of Education, the major coordinating body for U.S. colleges and universities.
ACE announced the election of Paxson and other higher education leaders to its board during its Thursday, March 2, business meeting. All new members will begin their terms in April 2023 under the leadership of Linda A. Livingstone, president of Baylor University, who was formally named the board’s chair.
The election adds to a series of national appointments for Paxson, a higher education leader, economist and public health scholar. In 2021, she completed her term as chair of the board of directors for the Association of American Universities, an organization composed of America’s leading research universities. In that role, Paxson helped to guide AAU’s work and served as a spokesperson for the association, particularly on federal policy issues affecting research universities. She represented AAU in discussions with lawmakers, assisted in developing national policy positions and played a significant role in determining the association’s agenda.
From 2016 to 2022, Paxson served as a member of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston’s board of directors, helping to oversee the pursuit of the Boston Fed’s mission of promoting growth and financial stability across New England. She served as chair of the board in 2021 and 2022.
Paxson’s three-year term on ACE’s board of directors enables the opportunity to help shape national higher education policy. Founded in 1918, ACE is a membership organization of more than 1,700 colleges and universities that convenes, organizes, mobilizes and leads advocacy efforts that shape effective public policy and help member institutions best serve their students, their communities and the wider public good.
Paxson has served as Brown University’s 19th president and a professor of economics and public policy since July 1, 2012. Under her leadership, Brown has fortified its standing as a leading research university known for its excellence and innovation in undergraduate education, its transformational vision in fueling economic development through community and government partnerships, and its commitment to inclusion and access.
Previously, she was dean of the Princeton School of International and Public Affairs and a professor of economics and public affairs at Princeton University. Paxson became a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2017. She has served as vice president of the American Economic Association and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.