William G. Bowen

William G. Bowen's tenure at Mellon was marked by a continued expansion in the scale of our grantmaking. Under his leadership, the Foundation created an in-house research program, sponsored the creation of the groundbreaking JSTOR archive, and funded the Grawemeyer Award-winning The Shape of the River: Long-Term Consequences of Considering Race in College and University Admissions, of which Mr. Bowen was a co-author.

Prior to joining Mellon, Mr. Bowen was president of Princeton University, where he also served as provost and a member of the faculty. His achievements at the university include overseeing the transition to coeducation, establishing residential colleges, promoting increased diversity, and invigorating the biological sciences as a major institutional commitment. Mr. Bowen was also a driving force behind American higher education's opposition to the apartheid regime in South Africa.

Mr. Bowen was the author or co-author of 20 books, including Equity and Excellence in American Higher Education with Martin A. Kurzweil and Eugene M. Tobin, which received the American Education Research Association (AERA) 2006 Outstanding Book Award.