Bienen, Henry
Dates
- Existence: 1939-
Biography
Henry S. Bienen was born on May 5, 1939, and received his undergraduate degree from Cornell University in 1960. His M.A. and PhD were received from the University of Chicago in 1961 and 1966 respectively. He is best known for being the president of Northwestern University from 1994-2009.
Prior to becoming the president of Northwestern University, Bienen was the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor and Dean of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. A political scientist with interests in political and economic development, comparative politics, civil-military relations, and U.S. foreign policy, Bienen began his association with Princeton University in 1966 as an assistant professor. He was named associate professor of politics and international affairs at Princeton in 1969 and professor of politics and international affairs in 1972. He was appointed the William Stewart Tod Professor of Politics and International Affairs at Princeton in 1981 and the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor in 1985.
Bienen has also been a visiting professor at Makerere College in Kampala, Uganda (1963-65), at University College in Nairobi (1968-69), at Columbia University (1971-72), and at the University of Ibadan (1972-73). He was a fellow at the Center for Advanced Studies in Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University (1976-77), a Polsky Fellow at the Aspen Institute (1982-83), and a member of the Institute for Advanced Studies at Princeton (1984-85).
In addition to his career in education, Bienen has acted as a consultant to the U.S. Department of State (1972-88), the National Security Council (1978-79), the Agency for International Development (1980-81), the Central Intelligence Agency (1982-88), and the World Bank (1981-89). He served as a member of the senior review panel of the CIA in the late 1980s.
He also has been a consultant to numerous companies and foundations, including the Hambrecht and Quist Investment Company, the Boeing Corporation, and the Carnegie Corporation as well as to the Ford Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. He served as a member of the Committee on Roles of Academic Health Centers in the 21st Century at the National Academies' Institute of Medicine and on the board of the University Corporation for Advanced Internet Development (Internet 2) from 1998 to 2002. He also acted as a member of the board of directors of the Council on Foreign Relations, serving on the executive committee and chairing the nominating and governance committee. He was also a member of the board of directors of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and serves on its executive committee.
Henry Bienen was elected the 15th president of Northwestern University on June 13, 1994, took office on January 1, 1995 and retired as president on August 31, 2009. His presidency succeeded that of Arnold R. Weber, and was followed by that of Morton O. Shapiro. During Bienen's tenure, applications for admission to Northwestern doubled, average SAT scores increased, research funding increased, and the university's endowment grew substantially due to a capital campaign led by Bienen. In 1996, Northwestern's football team played in the Rose Bowl for the first time since 1949. In 1997, Northwestern appeared for the first time in the top 10 universities for undergraduates in U.S. News & World Report.
In September 2008, the Northwestern University School of Music was renamed the Henry and Leigh Bienen School of Music to honor President Bienen and his wife, Leigh Buchanan Bienen.