Henry S. Bienen Northwestern University President

Henry S. Bienen, Northwestern's 15h president, is a political scientist with interests in political and economic development, comparative politics, civil-military relations, and U.S. foreign policy. He was previously the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor and dean of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University.

He is a board member of both the Council on Foreign Relations and the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations, and serves on the executive committees for each.

Bienen has been 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 for the CIA in the late 1980s.

He is the author, coauthor, or editor of 17 books. After receiving his bachelor's degree with honors from Cornell University in 1960, he attended the University of Chicago, where he earned a master's degree in 1961 and a PhD in 1966.

Sarah R. Pearson Vice President of Alumni Relations and Development

Sarah R. Pearson, vice president of Alumni Relations and Development, came to Northwestern University in January of 2003. By leveraging her relational and business expertise, as well as her vast knowledge of philanthropy in higher education arenas, she has significantly grown Northwestern's funding resources at every level. In addition, she has strengthened the relationship between the University and its alumni via new Northwestern endowments, special events, scholarships, facilities and many other valuable initiatives.

Pearson oversees all fundraising efforts for Northwestern, and she was responsible for the successful completion of Campaign Northwestern, which ended on August 31, 2003. In addition, she has implemented an innovative partnership between Northwestern's development office and the Northwestern Alumni Association, ensuring that all alumni have opportunities to stay connected to the University and its myriad endeavors.

Prior to coming to Northwestern, she served as director of the University of Chicago's $2 billion fundraising campaign as that institution's associate vice president of development. Pearson was also responsible for the leadership of nine major areas of development at the University of Chicago, including major gifts, the annual fund, and research.

Before bringing her development acumen to the Midwest, Pearson was a member of the Cornell University campaign team, serving as director of the Cornell Fund during Cornell's $1.5 billion fundraising effort. She also served as director of public affairs for Cornell's College of Human Ecology. Her experience managing fine arts philanthropy has served Northwestern well; Pearson was director of development for two performing arts institutions in Boston, and was the director of annual giving for the American Repertory Theatre at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.