The next president of Northwestern University is now set in stone. How will Mung Chiang's addition impact Wildcats athletics?
The long search is finally over, as Northwestern has found its next president.
On Monday morning, the university announced that Purdue president Mung Chiang is set to leave West Lafayette for the same role in Evanston, beginning July 1. He will become the 18th president in Northwestern history.
"I am honored and thrilled to be Northwestern’s next president," Chiang said in a press release. "I have long admired Northwestern for its dedication to interdisciplinary scholarship, artistic creation and impactful research, its tremendous healthcare system, and its palpable school spirit."
Chiang succeeds Michael Schill, who served from 2022 to 2025 before stepping down last September. The position had been held in the interim by Henry Bienen, who was also the school's 15th president from 1995 to 2009.
The 49-year-old completed his third year as Purdue's president on Jan. 1. Chiang was previously the dean at the school's College of Engineering from 2017 to 2023 and helped build Purdue into one of the top engineering universities in the nation.
Purdue President Mung Chiang listens as Indiana Chief Justice Loretta Rush speaks Tuesday, March 25, 2025, during the Purdue Presidential Lecture Series event at Purdue Memorial Union in West Lafayette, Ind.Northwestern's hire moves Chiang from one Big Ten university to another during a critical time in college sports. Legal battles, the introduction of Name, Image and Likeness and the expansion of revenue-sharing payments have taken the NCAA by storm, and Northwestern is adamant not to be left behind in the impending arms race.
The school's new $850 million football stadium is set to be completed this fall, while the transfer portal has forced NU to adapt its admissions policies to keep up with its Big Ten foes. Following the conclusion of the Wildcats' 2025-26 men's basketball season this spring, head coach Chris Collins emphasized the importance that Northwestern's next president will have in the school's athletic future.
"In order to win now at the high-major level, there's got to be unbelievable alignment from everybody, not just the coaching staff," Collins said after Purdue eliminated his team at the Big Ten Tournament on Mar. 12. "I mean that at a presidential level. You've got to want to compete in football and basketball, and you've got to invest, and it's got to be important, and it's got to trickle down. Everybody's got to be in alignment to win, because the programs that are winning, that's what they're doing."
Northwestern has experienced unprecedented widespread athletic success in the 2020s. The school's women's field hockey, women's lacrosse and women's golf teams have combined to take home five National Championships, while NU's football, men's/women's basketball, softball and women's soccer programs have found success in the postseason as well.
However, the world of college sports is changing so rapidly that it's more important than ever to have a forward-thinking president and athletic director "in alignment," as Collins said.
"This is a big time for us; we don't have a president. This is going to be a huge hire for us when it comes to athletics. Our new president that we bring in, is that going to be a commitment? I've always felt like if you're at a high-level academic school and you always strive to have the best undergraduate experience, and the best hospital, and Kellogg School of [Management], and all these graduate programs, Medill and all these things, why wouldn't we also strive to be great in athletics? There's a standard of excellence. We should want that, and we have the means to do that."
