Paul S. Grogan, Boston Foundation CEO, president, named trustee

Paul S. Grogan, the president and chief executive officer of The Boston Foundation, one of the nation’s oldest, largest and most influential community foundations, has been elected to the Brandeis University Board of Trustees, Chairman Malcolm L. Sherman announced.

Since joining the Foundation a decade ago, Grogan has boosted fundraising and launched a series of high-impact initiatives in housing, the arts, education reform and workforce development. Grogan has also championed civic engagement on myriad critical issues facing the city of Boston and the region.

“Paul is a remarkable guy who has had a significant leadership role in dealing with many of the most pressing issues of our times, from access to educational opportunities and medical care to employment and housing needs. It is a pleasure to welcome him to the board,” said Sherman.

Grogan, in accepting the position, referred to the university’s standing within higher education in the U.S.

“Greater Boston is the higher education capital of America and within it, Brandeis University is a very special institution. I am deeply honored to accept Brandeis’s offer to join the Board of Trustees,” he said.

Prior to the Foundation, Grogan served as vice president for Government, Community and Public Affairs at Harvard University from 1999 to 2001. As one of five vice presidents, he oversaw all government relations for Harvard, relations with Harvard’s host communities of Cambridge and Boston, and the university news office. He was also a senior lecturer at the Harvard Business School.

Grogan has a passion for cities that began in Boston when he served mayors Kevin H. White and Raymond L. Flynn in a variety of staff and line positions. He headed Boston’s neighborhood revitalization efforts in the early 1980s and pioneered a series of pubic/private ventures such as the Boston Housing Partnership and the Boston Compact, a partnership between the corporate community and public schools. These models have been widely emulated by other cities.

He graduated with a degree with honors in American history from Williams College in 1972 and earned a master’s degree in administration from the Harvard Graduate School of Education in 1979. He is a trustee of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation; a director of the for-profit company, the Community Development Trust, which he helped found; a director of New Profit, Inc.; and a former trustee at Williams College.

"I am delighted to welcome Paul to the Board,” said President Fred Lawrence. “He is a major figure in the greater Boston philanthropic world, and he brings to our board a wealth of experience in the not-for-profit sector. Paul cares deeply about the issues of equality and access about which we at Brandeis also feel strongly.”