July 1, 2026, will be President Eduardo Peñalver’s first day as Georgetown University president.
It will also be the first day Georgetown has a president with Latino heritage.
Peñalver, who the university announced Oct. 15 will succeed President Emeritus John J. Degioia (CAS ’79, GRD ’95), will also become Georgetown’s first Latino president, his father having immigrated from Cuba in 1962. Georgetown has officially chosen its second university president who is not a member of the Catholic Church clergy.
Peñalver told NBC in 2020 that he had become used to being known as “the first or the only” regarding his Latino heritage.
“I have always been aware of that reality; I’ve felt the responsibility to ‘represent,’ so to speak,” Peñalver said. “It has always been important to me to do my best, to represent our community well, so that there would be others.”
According to the American Council on Education, a national education association, around 5.8% of all university presidents nationwide in 2022 were Latino or Hispanic. In the same year, university presidents were 72.6% white, 13.6% Black or African American and 2.7% Asian.
DeGioia, who served as president for 23 years, was the university’s first lay president. At his previous position, Peñalver was also the first lay president at Seattle University, a private Jesuit school in Washington state.
Peñalver, though he is not a member of the clergy, said his Catholic faith has guided his experience in education.
“It gives meaning to my work,” Peñalver said in the university’s announcement. “I find great personal comfort in my faith, but also it helps me work through the challenges of my job.”
Before joining Georgetown, Peñalver was also the first Latino president of Seattle University, as well as the first Latino dean at an Ivy League law school as Cornell Law School’s 16th dean.
Though he is the first Latino president, Peñalver is Georgetown’s second university president who is not white.
Fr. Patrick F. Healy, S.J., who served as university president from 1874 to 1882, was a descendant of a former enslaved person. While having mixed racial ancestry, Healy was white passing and only identified as white.
Healy is often considered the first Black university president or the first university president of African descent, despite not publicly claiming Black or African heritage.
Peñalver started as Seattle University president July 1, 2021, and will step down March 31, 2026.
Peñalver said working at Seattle University was an honor and he looks forward to joining another Jesuit university.
“Serving as your president has been a great honor,” Peñalver said in a letter to the Seattle University community. “I am especially proud of the ways we have lived out our Jesuit values by centering the dignity of every person and providing an excellent education that prepares our students to lead meaningful lives in service of a just and humane world.”
As university president, Peñalver said he is excited to engage with the Georgetown community.
“This is an exciting moment in Georgetown’s history — with the expansion of the Capitol Campus, the creation of new, interdisciplinary programs, a renewed focus on access and affordability, and a commitment to finding innovative solutions to society’s most pressing issues,” Peñalver said. “I look forward to working with the students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends of Georgetown to deepen the university’s impact on our country and on our world.”
