Board of Trustees
GREGORY L. FENVES
Chancellor and President Emeritus, Emory University
Gregory L. Fenves joined Emory as its 21st president in 2020 and led the university through a remarkable period of growth, demonstrating the institution’s dynamism and resilience. Navigating the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, Fenves directed the deployment of measures to safeguard the health of the campus community while advancing the Emory mission. He revitalized and expanded the “One Emory” strategic framework, uniting the university’s schools and departments under a shared vision to elevate Emory as a first-choice destination for students and faculty, a leader in research, a thriving and innovative healthcare system, and a vital partner to the Atlanta community.
Under his leadership, Emory launched the 2O36 Campaign — the most successful fundraising effort in university history — generating record-breaking support focused on student success, faculty eminence, and research excellence. Reflecting his career-long commitment to access and affordability, Fenves expanded the Emory Advantage program, eliminating need-based loans for domestic undergraduate students and replacing them with grants and scholarships.
During his tenure, Emory achieved new milestones including record applications for undergraduate admissions; the launch of the Student Flourishing initiative and the formation of the Pathways Center to focus on student outcomes; the launch of the AI Humanity initiative and the cluster hiring of national AI faculty researchers; strengthening alignment between the university and Emory Healthcare, the premier academic health system in Georgia; and the surpassing of $1 billion in annual research expenditures.
Fenves now serves as Emory’s sixth chancellor.
Prior to joining Emory, Fenves served the University of Texas at Austin as dean of engineering, then as executive vice president and provost, and, finally, as the university’s 29th president. Before UT Austin, he was an engineering professor at the University of California, Berkeley for 20 years, earning numerous national awards for research excellence. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in civil and environmental engineering from Cornell University. He earned a master’s degree and a PhD in civil engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.
In 2014, Fenves was elected to the National Academy of Engineering. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Society of Civil Engineers, and the Structural Engineering Institute.