Eduardo M. Peñalver has been unanimously voted the 49th president of Georgetown University by the board of directors, the university announced Wednesday. Peñalver will begin his role on July 1, 2026.
He will be the university’s first non-interim president to openly claim Latino heritage and the second layperson, or non-clergy, president.
Previously, Peñalver served as the 22nd president of Seattle University starting in July 2021 and was the dean of Cornell Law School from 2014 until 2021. He is a leading expert on property law.
He plans to bring his experiences leading the Jesuit Seattle University to Georgetown.
“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,” he said. “We share an aspiration to do more than teach a skill or impart knowledge, but to get students to grapple with the deeper questions.”
Peñalver will succeed Interim President Robert M. Groves, who has served as university president since President emeritus John J. DeGioia (CAS ’79, GRAD ’95) stepped down from his 23-year term last November after suffering a stroke.
“I’m honored to serve in this role and very aware of the deep tradition and legacy Georgetown has rooted in its Jesuit values,” Peñalver said in an interview with the Washington Post. “What I want people to know about me: I have always been and will be committed to operating with transparency, openness and engagement with everyone.”
Peñalver told the Post that he wants to address political polarization on campus, help Georgetown become a leader in the study of artificial intelligence, and successfully expand Georgetown’s investment in its Capitol Campus.
“This is an exciting moment in Georgetown’s history with the bold expansion of the Capitol Campus, the creation of new interdisciplinary programs, and a renewed focus on access and affordability,” Peñalver said in a video message to the Georgetown community.
At Seattle University, Peñalver was the first Latino and first layperson to serve as president. He frequently described his vision for the university as one that is “progressive, Jesuit, and Catholic.”
While at Seattle, Peñalver openly criticized the Trump administration’s federal funding cuts at universities. The Seattle Spectator reported that in a town hall with students hosted this past May, Peñalver denounced the moves as being antithetical to intellectual freedom. This comes as the U.S. Treasury has “targeted” nearly $3 million of Georgetown’s current federal grants for termination.
“Taking funding away from universities in a peremptory manner without due process, attempting to insert detailed government intervention into the inner workings of the academic enterprise, represents an unprecedented effort to undermine the academic freedom and the culture of open-ended inquiry that makes universities the kinds of communities they are,” Peñalver said.
In the same town hall, he also emphasized that Seattle would be continuing ROTC scholarships for transgender students despite the Trump administration’s ban on transgender individuals in the military.
In an interview with the Washington Post, search committee chair Kevin Warren (MSB ’84) said that amidst a changing federal environment, it was important to the committee that the next president was strongly committed to the university’s values, including welcoming international students.
“We of course follow the law, but we also stay true to our Jesuit values,” Warren said. “We need someone with exceptional communication skills, diplomacy, making hard decisions and lead with values. Eduardo really impressed us on all of those.”
Peñalver’s previous political donations include campaigns for former Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama, according to data from the Federal Election Commission. In the 2024 election cycle, he donated to campaigns for Washington democratic Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez.
Peñalver grew up in Puyallup, Washington with a Catholic upbringing. Peñalver’s father immigrated to the United States from Cuba in 1962 and his mother is the child of Swiss immigrants.
“Since my days at All Saints Elementary School in Puyallup, Washington, I’ve been the beneficiary of Catholic education,” Peñalver said in the video message.
Thomas A. Reynolds III (MSB ’74), the chair of Georgetown’s Board of Directors, thanked the presidential search committee in a university-wide email.
“Our presidential search committee engaged in this search for several months with dedication and diligence,” Reynolds wrote. “I would like to thank the members of our University community who participated in these sessions or submitted comments online. Your perspectives on the qualities needed in our next President helped inform the committee’s work in important ways.”
Warren told the Post that across Peñalver’s interviews, he seemed ready to rise to the difficult occasion U.S. universities currently face.
“We posed some really challenging scenarios for him, and he responded with intelligence and humility,” Warren said, declining to provide additional specifics. “It’s a challenging time for universities, and that’s where leadership really matters. We’re very excited.”
