Carnegie Corporation Names Oxford U. Official Louise Richardson as New Leader

The Carnegie Corporation of New York has named international terrorism expert Louise Richardson, currently the vice chancellor of Oxford University, as its next president, succeeding Vartan Gregorian, who died unexpectedly in April after a brief illness

Richardson, who will not take over at Carnegie until January 2023, when her term at Oxford ends, will be the first woman to lead the philanthropy founded by the American industrialist Andrew Carnegie. Born in Ireland, she was the first person in her family to attend college. She immigrated to the United States and received graduate degrees from University of California at Los Angeles and Harvard University.

The foundation, which had about $3.5 billion in assets at the end of its 2020 fiscal year “couldn’t ask for a better steward,” said Thomas Kean, the chairman of Carnegie’s board of trustees in a statement.

“In addition to her many professional accomplishments, Louise possesses the personal attributes we consider most important for the position: integrity, leadership, international breadth, and a proven dedication to our work in democracy, education, and international peace and security,” said Kean, who served as chair of the 9/11 Commission and is a former governor of New Jersey.

As vice chancellor at Oxford, essentially the head of the university, Richardson led the institution‘s effort to develop a Covid vaccine and enter into a partnership with pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca to produce mass quantities of it at cost.

Richardson, who has served on Carnegie’s board since 2013, first came to the United States to study on a Rotary International scholarship. She taught at Harvard for more than 20 years. As an academic, she has sought to bring together approaches to deal with terrorism that focus on the political roots of violence rather than emphasizing military responses, according to a Carnegie statement.

Richardson said she was delighted to take over following the tenure of the “beloved and legendary” Gregorian.

Said Richardson: “We live in fragile times such that an unwavering commitment to the power of education to transform lives, to the need to strengthen democracy, and to the advancement of international peace has never been more important.”