The Carnegie Corporation of New York has announced that Dame Louise Richardson has begun serving as its new president, succeeding Vartan Gregorian, who passed away in 2021.

Richardson, who grew up in rural Ireland and was the first in her family to earn a university degree, most recently served as vice-chancellor of the University of Oxford and had agreed in 2021 to lead the foundation after her contract with the university was complete. At Oxford, and previously as principal and vice-chancellor at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, Richardson significantly expanded access for students from nontraditional backgrounds like her own. Under Richardson’s leadership, Oxford was ranked the world’s top university in Times Higher Education’s World University Rankings for a record seven consecutive years.

Richardson was the first woman to lead both Oxford and St. Andrews and is now the first woman to head Carnegie Corporation of New York.

In a recent interview with PBS News Hour anchor Judy Woodruff, who serves on the Carnegie Corporation board, Richardson commented on the difference between running a foundation and a higher education institution. “There will be a difference of scale. I have been leading a very singular institution where I am responsible for about 50,000 people. I love the idea that I will know everybody who works here,” Richardson said. “I am a strong believer in the power of community, of people working together. If you have 100 people working together, it is much easier to figure out who you want to collaborate with beyond the group. Some of the problems we are talking about are much bigger than any one foundation can effectively address, but one could imagine persuading other foundations to target the same problem and working on it together.”

(Photo credit: John Cairns, courtesy of Carnegie Corporation of New York)