Princeton's Institute For Advanced Study Names New Director

PRINCETON, NJ — The Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton has named David Nirenberg as its 10th director and Leon Levy Professor, the IAS announced last week. Nirenberg, currently dean of the Divinity School at the University of Chicago, will assume his new role on July 1, 2022.

Nirenberg is an experienced academic and administrator. He currently serves as the Deborah R. and Edgar D. Jannotta Distinguished Service Professor of Social Thought, History, Divinity, Romance Languages and Literatures at the University of Chicago. He was founding director of the Neubauer Collegium for Culture and Society, Dean of the Social Sciences, and Executive Vice Provost at the University of Chicago. He has also taught at Rice University and Johns Hopkins University, where he founded the Stulman Center for Jewish Studies.

While dean of the Division of Social Sciences, Nirenberg led efforts to create the Computational Social Science program, and to establish the Center for International Social Science Research and the Committee on Quantitative Social Science. He is the author of numerous books and articles on the Christians, Jews, and Muslims of medieval Europe and the Mediterranean.

Nirenberg has won numerous prizes and honors for his teaching and research, including the Ralph Waldo Emerson Prize from Phi Beta Kappa. He also sits on numerous boards, such as the Argonne National Laboratory and the National Opinion Research Center.

“I couldn't think of a better choice to hand over the baton. I have come to know David as an eminent scholar, creative thinker, and thoughtful academic leader with an impressive track record of success. He has a deep connection to the core values of IAS of joining together excellence, diverse perspectives, and the limitless possibilities of the shared pursuit of knowledge,” said current IAS Director and Leon Levy Professor Robbert Dijkgraaf. “This appointment will add many new dimensions to the intellectual life at the Institute that I hope to enjoy personally for many years to come. It is thanks to the tremendous effort of Trustees and Faculty that we can look forward to welcoming David as our next Director.”