Dear Members of the Brown Community,

I am delighted to announce that the Corporation of Brown University has enthusiastically elected Brian T. Moynihan, a 1981 Brown graduate and Chair and CEO of Bank of America, to become Brown’s 22nd Chancellor on July 1, 2024.

The officers of the Corporation — Chancellor, Vice Chancellor, Secretary and Treasurer — can serve up to three three-year terms, or a maximum of nine years. Last academic year, as I was approaching my eighth year of serving as Brown’s 21st Chancellor, I decided that the deep well of experience and expertise of colleagues on the Corporation provides an opportunity for a strong leadership transition as I rebalance my time among my service obligations and family. I have served 21 years overall as a member of the Brown Corporation, and will always remain deeply committed to Brown. At the same time, I look forward to expanding my service with my other nonprofit boards and to enjoying time with my growing family and ever-expanding roster of delightful grandchildren.

I have had the enormous privilege of working with the Trustees and Fellows and President Paxson through some of the most exhilarating and consequential times in Brown history. Doing so has been the honor and privilege of a lifetime, but I also recognize that a healthy governing board must renew and refresh itself on a regular basis. Doing so at this time will position Brown to continue to advance its distinctive approach to teaching and research, its excellence, and its value to the world in the years to come. While my term as Chancellor will conclude at the end of this academic year, I will continue to be engaged with and serve this great and noble University in any way that I can in the years ahead.

When vacancies in the Chancellor and other officer positions occur, a subcommittee of the Governance and Nominating Committee of the Corporation is formed with responsibility for recommending new candidates. Under the excellent leadership of Chair Sara Savage ’90, the members of the subcommittee — John Atwater ’83, Marcia Dunn ’82, Jeff Hines ’83 MD ’86 and Alison Ressler ’80 — spent countless hours over several months carrying out this charge. They did so with extraordinary diligence, rigor and care, and members of the Corporation expressed gratitude for their hard and thoughtful work.

Brian Moynihan brings a deep love for and commitment to Brown to the position of Chancellor. A history concentrator and member of the rugby team as a Brown undergraduate, after Commencement Brian went on to earn his law degree from the University of Notre Dame. He has been a member of the Corporation since 2010, six years as a Trustee and now in his eighth year on the Board of Fellows. He has served on several Corporation committees, as well as the Board of Governors of the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs.

Throughout his years of dedicated service, Brian Moynihan has been an active and engaged member, and there is widespread appreciation and respect for his insight, global leadership and management experience, values and wisdom. Sara Savage, in making the recommendation of the subcommittee to the Corporation and speaking from her personal experience of having served with Brian on the Committee on Campus Life, praised his keen interest in the student experience and his empathy and advocacy for all students at Brown. I am entirely confident that Brian will be a superb and dedicated leader for the Corporation and for Brown as Chancellor.

Please join me in congratulating Brian Moynihan.

Sincerely,

Samuel M. Mencoff
Chancellor