Bard College Announces 16th President, Marvin Krislov, JD

ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. — The Bard College Board of Trustees, after an extensive and careful search, announced today the appointment of Marvin Krislov as the College’s 16th President. In a unanimous vote, the Board of Trustees elected Krislov to become the next leader of Bard, one of the most innovative and distinctive private liberal arts colleges in our nation. Krislov will take office on July 1, 2027 for a three-year term, succeeding Jonathan Becker, who continues to serve as Acting President through the end of the current academic year.

President-Elect Marvin Krislov comes to Bard College from Pace University, where he has been President since 2017. He received his Juris Doctor degree from Yale Law School in 1988. Among other honors, he is a Rhodes Scholar and studied modern history at Oxford University, receiving a master’s degree and second bachelor’s degree. He graduated from Yale College, summa cum laude, with a Bachelor of Arts in economics and political science and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. Krislov began his career in public service, practicing law in the US Department of Justice, Office of Counsel to the President under President Bill Clinton, and US Department of Labor, before becoming Vice President and General Counsel at the University of Michigan in 1998 until 2007. From 2007 to 2017, Krislov was President of Oberlin College. He has taught undergraduate courses in law and political science at Pace University, Oberlin College, the University of Michigan, and George Washington University. In 2009, he was appointed by President Obama and confirmed by the Senate to the National Council on the Humanities, where he served a 10-year tenure until 2019.

“Marvin Krislov is the ideal leader to guide the College forward at a pivotal moment in the institution’s 166-year history. Building upon Bard’s legacy of innovation and excellence, Krislov is committed to honoring and advancing the institution’s mission as a private college serving the public good,” said Chairman of the Bard College Board of Trustees, Brandon Weber ’97. “His deep experience and many accomplishments within higher education; his thoughtful and collaborative approach to leadership; as well as his unwavering dedication to educational equity, accessibility, and the arts encompass the qualities of leadership we sought for Bard’s next president. The Board of Trustees is excited about the future of Bard under his stewardship and confident he will deepen the College’s impact on higher education for future generations of students.”

“I am honored and humbled by this opportunity to lead this extraordinary institution,” said Marvin Krislov, Bard College’s President-Elect. “Bard’s commitment to students and communities across this country and around the world sets a standard of excellence for all of higher education. I am inspired by Bard’s intellectual rigor, openness, concern for civic engagement, and its unwavering conviction that music and the arts belong with the natural and human sciences in the educational experience. I look forward with optimism to working with the Board, faculty, staff, and students in advancing our mission to provide world-class education for individual fulfillment and in the public interest.”

Since joining Pace University as its President in 2017, Krislov has overseen the institution during a period of progress and transformation. At Pace, he secured record levels of public and private funding, increased student enrollment and graduation rates, launched the Sands College of Performing Arts, and reimagined its New York City campus through landmark investments, including the opening of 15 Beekman and the renovation of One Pace Plaza East. He led the university through the unprecedented challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic with steadiness and resolve, while emerging as a leading advocate for student mental health and well-being. His nearly 10-year tenure at Pace reflects his enduring commitment to expanding opportunity, strengthening the student experience, and positioning that institution for a vibrant and successful future. 

From 2007 to 2017, Krislov served as President of Oberlin College, one of the few liberal arts institutions that, like Bard, is home to a fully integrated conservatory of music within its undergraduate college. At Oberlin, he successfully led a comprehensive $318 million fundraising campaign (the largest in the college’s history) and launched Oberlin Access Initiative to support low-income students for whom a liberal arts education would not otherwise be accessible.

As the University of Michigan’s Vice President and General Counsel from 1998 to 2007, Krislov spearheaded the legal, political, and public education strategy for the landmark 2003 Supreme Court cases Grutter v. Bollinger and Gratz v. Bollinger. He has throughout his career steadfastly advocated for diversity, equity, and inclusion in higher education.

“Over the many years that I have known and worked with Marvin Krislov, I have witnessed firsthand that he is a distinguished scholar and a collaborative leader who understands the importance of the arts and civic engagement in preparing students to soar to the heights of their possibilities. I applaud the selection of Marvin Krislov as the 16^th President of Bard College,” said Johnnetta Betsch Cole, President Emerita of Spelman College and Bennett College.

“Marvin Krislov is an experienced higher education leader and an excellent choice for Bard College. Always attuned to student concerns, institutional integrity, and financial stability, Marvin will chart an exciting new course for the College during a challenging era for higher education in our country.  Marvin knows the Northeast, the Midwest, liberal arts colleges, the arts, the law, and professional education.  He is the perfect fit,” said Mary Sue Coleman, President Emerita of the University of Michigan.

“I've known Marvin for many years, back when he was President of my alma mater Oberlin. He's a special person, a humble guy, and also the type of person who can go 360 degrees when it comes to dealing with all types of people. Marvin can sit down with a plumber or a PhD and have a thrilling, engaged conversation about any manner of subjects. My favorite Marvin Krislov story is when he was serving as President of Pace and came to a kids’ concert at my church in the Red Hook Housing Projects in Brooklyn. About 15 kids from the projects banged away at instruments for an hour or two. I looked up during the concert and who did I see in one of the pews but Marvin! Afterwards, he was approached by one of the locals, a colorful dude with a net worth of about 25 cents who fancies himself an expert on the stock market, among other things. I couldn’t hear the conversation, but when I looked over, I saw the two of them laughing,” said author, musician, and screenwriter James McBride, Distinguished Journalist in Residence, Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute, NYU. “He's a perfect fit for Bard, a wonderful institution. He understands the complexities that face us in these difficult times. In terms of creativity and the importance of a liberal arts education, music, art, science, research, he checks all the important boxes. And most importantly, he has given his life over to the betterment of humanity. He lives it. It's a loss for Pace and the NYC creative community, and a real gain for Bard.”

As Bard’s next President, Krislov will take leadership of one of the world’s most innovative and distinctive institutions of higher education. Bard stands out for its belief in the inextricable link between education and democracy, its emphasis on civic engagement, its commitment to radically expanding access to liberal education, and as a champion of the arts, music, and intellectual freedom. More than just a small liberal arts college, Bard’s expansive educational networks—including the Bard Prison Initiative, Bard Early Colleges, Bard College Berlin, Bard Graduate Center, Bard Global Degree, and dual-degree programs in Palestine and Kyrgyzstan—provide rigorous liberal arts education to a diverse population of over 6,500 students enrolled in AA, BA, Masters, and PhD programs worldwide as well as academic refuge for threatened students and scholars. Bard offers transformational degree opportunities to underserved communities as it pioneers new models of educational collaboration globally. On Bard’s home campus in Annandale-on-Hudson, its world-renowned faculty, academic excellence, and rigorous interdisciplinary curriculum — from the arts to the experimental sciences — stand out in today’s higher education landscape.

Following the transformative 51-year tenure of Leon Botstein, Krislov’s appointment comes at a pivotal moment of growth and expansion at Bard College. “During Leon Botstein’s more than half a century of inspired leadership, Bard grew into an institution that brought the transformative power of education to students of all backgrounds at—and beyond—its home campus. I am thrilled that under its new leadership, Bard will continue to advance education, so important for our democracy, in the public interest,” said Phil Murphy, former Governor of New Jersey and parent of Bard College alum Joshua Murphy ’20.

The campus has recently opened a new energy-efficient Passive House–designed residential complex, which features a light-filled campus center, and houses more than 400 students across five distinct buildings. A superb 25,000-square-foot Maya Lin–designed performing arts studio building for the Fisher Center at Bard completed construction this year. Recently launched initiatives including the Chang Chavkin Center for Liberal Education and Civic Life, which seeks to foster liberal education nationwide, and the newly established Ralph Ellison Center, which serves as a central hub to writers, artists, and scholars, build upon Bard’s commitment to interdisciplinary learning and the connection between education and democracy. At a challenging time for higher education, Bard has raised $1 billion in the past five years to secure a transformational endowment and continues to experience steady increase in undergraduate admissions and enrollment numbers.

About Bard College
Founded in 1860, Bard College is a four-year residential college of the liberal arts and sciences located 90 miles north of New York City. With the addition of the Montgomery Place and Massena properties, Bard’s campus consists of more than 1,200 parklike acres in the Hudson River Valley. It offers bachelor of arts, bachelor of science, and bachelor of music degrees, with majors in nearly 40 academic programs; advanced degrees through 14 graduate programs; 10 early colleges; and numerous dual-degree programs nationally and internationally. Building on its 166-year history as a competitive and innovative undergraduate institution, Bard College has expanded its mission as a private institution acting in the public interest across the country and around the world to meet broader student needs and increase access to liberal arts education. The undergraduate program at the main campus in upstate New York has a reputation for scholarly excellence, a focus on the arts, and civic engagement. Bard is committed to enriching culture, public life, and democratic discourse by training tomorrow’s thought leaders. For more information about Bard College, visit bard.edu. (10/23/26)
 

This event was last updated on 10-23-2026

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