At the time of her appointment in March 2012, Christina Paxson was Dean of the Woodrow Wilson School of International and Public Affairs and the Hughes Rogers Professor of Economics and Public Affairs at Princeton University. As Brown’s nineteenth president, Paxson has charted the course for the University’s future with the recently approved (October 2013) strategic plan, Building on Distinction: A New Plan for Brown. The Plan provides a vision and set of broad goals to achieve higher levels of distinction as a university that unites innovative education and outstanding research to benefit the community, the nation and the world. It calls for targeted investments to attract and support the most talented and diverse faculty, students and staff; capitalize on existing strengths; and provide the environment to foster rigorous inquiry and discovery across the disciplines. The Plan highlights the need to keep a Brown education affordable for talented students from all economic backgrounds and to sustain a community with the diversity of thought and experience required for excellence.