Georgetown University has selected Eduardo M. Peñalver, president of Seattle University, as the institution's 49th president, making him the latest leader to helm the nation's oldest Catholic and Jesuit university.
Eduardo M. PeñalverGeorgetown University
The appointment brings a leader with deep roots in Jesuit education and a track record of expanding access and diversity to one of the nation's most prestigious Catholic universities. At Cornell Law School, where Peñalver served as dean from 2014 to 2021, he more than tripled the percentage of students graduating without debt—from 12% to over 40%—while simultaneously increasing the quality and diversity of the student body.
"President Peñalver has demonstrated innovation, courageous leadership and a commitment to elevating the academic excellence of every institution he has served," said Kevin Warren, chair of Georgetown's Presidential Search Committee.
Peñalver has led Seattle University since 2021, becoming the first layperson to serve as president of the Catholic, Jesuit institution since its 1891 founding. During his tenure, he established the new Cornish College of the Arts and secured the largest gift of art ever given to a U.S. university.
The son of a Cuban immigrant father and a mother whose parents were Swiss immigrant dairy farmers, Peñalver grew up in Puyallup, Washington. He graduated magna cum laude from Cornell University in 1994, earned his law degree from Yale Law School, and studied philosophy and theology at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. He clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens.
A leading scholar of progressive property theory, Peñalver has taught at Fordham, Cornell, Chicago, Harvard and Yale law schools. His academic work draws significantly from Catholic social teaching.
Peñalver said he was attracted to Georgetown for its status as an R1 research university, its Washington, D.C. location, and its commitment to student formation in the Jesuit tradition.
"At the center of our work, [Jesuit universities] share an interest in students as whole persons, focusing on their experiences both inside and outside the classroom," Peñalver said.
He inherits a university expanding its Capitol Campus, launching new interdisciplinary programs, and renewing its focus on access and affordability—priorities that align with his demonstrated commitment to increasing educational opportunity.
