William G. Bowen, a member of the Denison Class of 1955, Life Trustee at Denison, former president of Princeton University, and former president of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, has died, at the age of 83.
Bowen was a thought leader, a renowned economist and a highly regarded educator. He served on the faculty of Princeton University for 30 years and was Princeton’s Provost and President from 1972 to 1988. In 1988 he became President of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, one of the largest grant-making organizations in the country. A prolific writer, he authored 20 books, including a book released earlier this year, “Lesson Plan: An Agenda for Change in American Higher Education” (with Michael McPherson); as well as “The Shape of the River: Long-Term Consequences of Considering Race in College and University Admissions” (with Derek Bok); “The Game of Life: College Sports and Educational Values” (with James L. Shulman); “Reclaiming the Game: College Sports and Educational Values” (with Sarah A. Levin); “Equity and Excellence in American Higher Education” (with Martin A. Kurzweil and Eugene M. Tobin); “The Board Book,” and more.
In 1998 Dr. Bowen received a Rolex Lifetime Achievement Award for college tennis athletes who later excelled in their career and life, and in 2008 he received the Josè Vasconcelos World Award of Education, bestowed upon him by the World Cultural Council. In 2013, he received a 2012 National Humanities Medal from President Barack Obama which noted “his contributions to the study of economics and his probing research on higher education in America. While his widely discussed publications have scrutinized the effects of policy, Dr. Bowen has used his leadership to put theories into practice and strive for new heights of academic excellence.”
Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends, especially with his wife Mary Ellen Maxwell Bowen ’55.