Dr. Cornelius M. Kerwin became American University’s 14th president on September 1, 2007. He leads an institution of 11,000 students, 978 teaching faculty, and 2,210 staff in the nation’s capital; oversees a $400 million budget; and is leading the $200 million capital campaign toward conclusion.

Dr. Kerwin joined AU in 1975 and holds a faculty appointment in the School of Public Affairs, Department of Public Administration. He was dean of the School of Public Affairs from 1988 to 1997; provost from 1997 to 2005; and acting—then interim—president of American University from 2005 to 2007.

A nationally recognized specialist in public policy and the regulatory process, Dr. Kerwin is actively engaged in research and regularly teaches courses in administrative process, policy implementation, and American government. He founded AU’s Center for the Study of Rulemaking and is the author of Rulemaking: How Government Agencies Write Law and Make Policy and co-author of How Washington Works: The Executive’s Guide to Government.

Dr. Kerwin is a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration; a former president of the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration; and founding chair of the Section on Public Law and Administration of the American Society for Public Administration. He received degrees from American University (BA), the University of Rhode Island (MA in political science), and Johns Hopkins University (PhD in political science).

Dr. Kerwin and his wife, Ann (BA 1971), reside in Bethesda, Maryland. Before retiring in 2007, Ann Kerwin was the director of Human Resources at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, one of the nation's oldest museums. The Kerwins have two sons, Michael (BA 2005) and Alex, a graduate of Tufts University.