2026 Clark Kerr Lectures

2026 Clark Kerr Lectures | Christopher Eisgruber

The American University in Crisis

In his 1963 Godkin Lectures, Clark Kerr declared that American universities were “at a hinge in history.” We are now at an equally pivotal moment: recent attacks on research funding and academic freedom imperil the model that Kerr described and that enabled American universities to become world-leading institutions. President Eisgruber’s lectures examined developments that hadrendered American universities more vulnerable to political attack and consider how universities and their presidents should define the civic mission of universities in the years ahead.

The 2026 Clark Kerr Lecture Series were co-sponsored by the Center for Studies in Higher Education, Goldman School of Public Policy and Berkeley Law.

Funding for the Clark Kerr Lectures was provided by the Carnegie Corporation and the University of California Office of the President.

Christopher Eisgruber

Tuesday, February 24 at 2:00 p.m. |Evolving Conditions
In the first lecture, President Eisgruber focused on major trends that had affected the American model of the research university, including rising student debt, intense national competition, and battles over affirmative action, diversity, and merit.

Thursday, February 26 at 2:00 p.m. |Contested Missions
In the second lecture, President Eisgruber examined the role of university presidents, the civic mission of American research universities, and how university communities should respond to the challenges they now face.

The American University in Crisis - Evolving Conditions

The American University in Crisis - Contested Missions

About the Clark Kerr Lecture Series

The Clark Kerr Lectures is a biennial series sponsored by the Center for Studies in Higher Education. The series honors Clark Kerr, President of the University of California from 1958 to 1967. Initial funding for the lectures was provided by the Carnegie Corporation and subsequently major complementary funding has been received from the University of California's Office of the President.

Christopher Ludwig Eisgruber has served as Princeton University’s 20th president since July 2013. He served previously as Princeton’s provost for nine years, beginning in 2004, after joining the Princeton faculty in 2001.

As president, Eisgruber has led efforts to increase the representation of low-income and first-generation students at Princeton and other colleges and universities. Princeton’s socioeconomic diversity initiatives have attracted national attention from the New York Times, the Washington Post, 60 Minutes and other news outlets. Eisgruber has also been a leading voice in Washington and elsewhere for the value of research and liberal arts education. He has emphasized the importance of both free speech and inclusivity to Princeton’s mission and championed the University’s commitment to service.

President Eisgruber is a recipient of the United States Navy’s Distinguished Public Service Award, the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, and the National Institute of Social Sciences Gold Honor Medal. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Association of American Universities, as co-chair of the American Talent Initiative steering committee, and was a member of the United States Navy’s Education for Seapower Advisory Board from 2023 to 2025.

Eisgruber received his A.B. in physics from Princeton in 1983, graduating magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. He then earned an M.Litt in politics at the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, and a J.D. cum laude at the University of Chicago Law School. After clerking for U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Patrick Higginbotham and U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, he taught at New York University’s School of Law for 11 years.

Eisgruber’s books include Constitutional Self-Government (2001); Religious Freedom and the Constitution (with Lawrence Sager, 2007); The Next Justice: Repairing the Supreme Court Appointments Process (2007); and Terms of Respect: How Colleges Get Free Speech Right (2025).