William G. Bowen

For other people with the same name, see William Bowen (disambiguation).

William G. Bowen
President of Princeton University
In office 1972–1988
Preceded by	Robert F. Goheen
Succeeded by	Harold T. Shapiro
Personal details
Born	(1933-10-06)October 6, 1933 Cincinnati, Ohio
Died	October 20, 2016(2016-10-20) (aged 83) Princeton, New Jersey

William Gordon Bowen (October 6, 1933 – October 20, 2016) was President Emeritus of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation where he served as President from 1988 to 2006. He was the president of Princeton University from 1972 to 1988.

William Bowen went to Denison University, where he was initiated into the Sigma Chi fraternity. He graduated from Denison in 1955 and Princeton University in 1958, where he earned a PhD. He joined the Princeton faculty in 1958, specializing in labor economics.

In 1988, he left Princeton and joined The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, where he created a research program to investigate doctoral education, collegiate admissions, independent research libraries, and charitable nonprofits in order to ensure that the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation's grants would be well-informed and more effective.

William Bowen was also partially responsible for JSTOR, the Mellon International Dunhuang Archive, ARTstor, and Ithaka Harbors, Inc..

Bowen authored 19 books, including the Grawemeyer Award-winning The Shape of the River: Long-Term Consequences of Considering Race in College and University Admissions (co-authored with Derek Bok). One of his books, Equity and Excellence in American Higher Education (2005), was coauthored with Eugene M. Tobin and Martin A. Kurzweil. Bowen's study of graduation rates at public universities in the United States culminated in the book Crossing the Finish Line: Completing College at America's Public Universities that was coauthored with Matthew M. Chingos and Michael S. McPherson.

Duke University President Richard H. Brodhead appointed him and Julius L. Chambers to evaluate the performance of Duke University's administration in handling the 2006 lacrosse team case.

Positions held

• Founding chairman of the Board of Ithaka.
• Trustee on the Board of the Trust Committee that oversaw the Rockefeller family trusts.
• Served on the following boards: JSTOR, ARTstor, Ithaka, Board of Overseers of Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association and College Retirement Equities Fund. Former board member of American Express, Merck & Co, Inc., and the University Corporation for Advanced Internet Development.
• Former professor of economics and public affairs at Princeton University.

Awards and recognition

In 2013, he received a 2012 National Humanities Medal from President Barack Obama.

In 2008, he received the José Vasconcelos World Award of Education for his lifetime's work creating educational opportunities.

In 2001, he received the University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award for his book written with Derek Bok, The Shape of the River: Long-Term Consequences of Considering Race in College and University Admissions.