From Ithaca to Washington D.C., former Dean of the Cornell Law School and 1993 Latino Cornellians’ Day Hall Takeover leader Eduardo Peñalver ’94 will become the 49th president of Georgetown University on July 1, 2026. He was unanimously elected by its board of directors on Oct. 15.
“I’m deeply honored to have the privilege of serving as Georgetown’s next president,” Peñalver said in a press release for Georgetown University.
Peñalver, who currently serves as the 22nd Seattle University President, received a Bachelor of Arts from the College of Arts and Sciences in 1994, graduating magna cum laude.
While an undergraduate at Cornell, Peñalver was a leader of the four-day-long 1993 Latino Cornellians’ Day Hall Takeover, which, among other changes undertaken by the University, led to the creation of the Latino Living Center and increased funding for the Latino Studies Program. The protest was sparked by the vandalism of a Hispanic art exhibit piece on display in the Arts Quad.
Peñalver returned to his alma mater in 2014 when he was appointed dean of Cornell Law School. The first Latino to lead an Ivy League law school, he led fundraising efforts to provide financial aid to law school candidates, making it more accessible for students to pursue legal careers. By the end of his term, 12 percent more students were able to graduate from Cornell Law without debt.
Peñalver also previously served as a professor at Cornell Law from 2006 to 2012. He was also a law school professor at Fordham University and the University of Chicago, as well as a U.S. Supreme Court clerk for Justice John Paul Stevens in 2000.
Peñalver received a Master's in Philosophy and Theology in 1996 as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford before turning to pursue a career in Law. He afterward achieved a Juris Doctorate from Yale Law School in 1999.
In 2021, he left his role as dean of Cornell Law in order to accept a position as President of Seattle University. There, Peñalver established the Cornish College of the Arts, which offers degrees in fine arts and music.
Peñalver will now begin his role as Georgetown’s president on July 1, 2026. He will succeed their current interim president, Robert Groves, who has held the position since 2024.
The Board of Directors at Georgetown unanimously elected Peñalver. Thomas A. Reynolds, a chairman of the board, made the announcement, saying, “We look forward to [Peñalver] joining our Georgetown Community.”
Update, Nov. 3, 8:45 p.m.: This article has been updated to include details about Peñalver’s leadership in activism on campus.
Jonathan McCormack is a sophomore in the Cornell College of Arts & Sciences. He is a staff writer for the news department and can be reached at jjm538@cornell.edu.
