PHILADELPHIA, PA (October 29, 2026) – The National Constitution Center today announced that its Board of Trustees has appointed Hiram E. Chodosh, President Emeritus of Claremont McKenna College, as its next President and Chief Executive Officer. One of higher education’s most accomplished institutional leaders, Chodosh brings a proven record of building and strengthening educational and legal institutions, mobilizing extraordinary philanthropic support, pioneering new approaches to teaching and learning, and advancing freedom of expression and constructive dialogue. His appointment marks an ambitious new chapter for the Center as it seeks to dramatically expand its collaborations, reach and impact during the Civic Decade, a period of powerful civic renewal between the nation’s 250th anniversary in 2026 and the 250th anniversaries of the Constitution in 2037 and the Bill of Rights in 2041.
Vince Stango, who has led the Center through an extraordinary year as interim President and CEO, will serve as Deputy CEO and Co-President. A highly respected leader in Philadelphia’s civic and cultural community, Stango spearheaded the Center’s ambitious semiquincentennial efforts in Philadelphia and across the nation, overseeing major new exhibitions, educational initiatives, public programs, and national partnerships. Under his leadership, the Center also presented the historic Liberty Medal honoring Pope Leo XIV, drawing international attention to the institution and its mission. With more than 27 years of service to the Center, Stango has helped build the institution’s strength and national reputation and, in 2026, launched an ambitious Civic Decade agenda that Chodosh will build upon and accelerate.
“We could not be more excited to welcome Hiram Chodosh as the National Constitution Center’s next President and CEO,” said Mike George, Chair of the National Constitution Center’s Board of Trustees. “Hiram is a transformational leader with a rare combination of intellectual distinction, entrepreneurial vision, and an extraordinary record of institutional achievement. He sees possibilities where others see limitations and has demonstrated the ability to inspire people, forge powerful partnerships, and marshal the resources necessary to translate ambitious ideas into institutional achievement and national influence. The Board is confident that Hiram is the leader to take the Center to new heights, expanding its influence and impact across the nation and around the world. We are immensely proud of Vince Stango, our leadership team, and staff, whose extraordinary achievements during America’s 250th anniversary have launched the ambitious work of the Civic Decade and positioned the Center for this moment. Together, Hiram and Vince can harness that momentum to reshape what a national civic institution can achieve, opening new possibilities for the Center, for the communities it serves, and for the future of constitutional self-government.”
These appointments follow a national leadership search conducted by a committee of the Board of Trustees in partnership with Korn Ferry, following Jeffrey Rosen’s transition to CEO Emeritus in January 2026. Rosen had led the organization for 12 years of distinguished service as President and CEO, helping the Center strengthen its role as a premier national platform for nonpartisan constitutional learning for learners of all ages.
Chodosh will assume his new role on January 1, 2027, with Stango continuing as interim President and CEO until then. At that time Chodosh will also join the Center’s Board of Trustees; Stango, who was appointed to the Board in 2024, will continue to serve as a trustee.
During his 13-year presidency at Claremont McKenna College, Chodosh led a period of unprecedented institutional growth, financial strength, and educational innovation. Under his leadership, the college completed a record-breaking $1.076 billion fundraising campaign, becoming the first liberal arts college to surpass $1 billion in a comprehensive campaign, with support from more than 12,000 donors. The college more than doubled its endowment to over $1.3 billion and expanded its campus from 75 to 152 acres, advancing an ambitious master plan that includes the new Roberts Campus.
Chodosh translated that unprecedented philanthropic success into major investments in educational innovation and student opportunity. He championed a $400 million initiative to establish the Kravis Department of Integrated Sciences, reimagining undergraduate science education through an interdisciplinary, problem-based approach that integrates scientific inquiry, computing, artificial intelligence, and the liberal arts. Students learn to build and use AI tools, collaborate across disciplines, from economics to policy to ethics, and apply their knowledge to real-world challenges, including developing solutions for external partners. The program reflects Chodosh’s broader educational philosophy, emphasizing intellectual curiosity, experiential learning, and the development of integrated, multi-disciplinary capabilities and skills that sustain learning throughout life. He also oversaw the development of the $170 million Robert Day Sciences Center and spearheaded initiatives that raised approximately $300 million to expand financial aid, undergraduate research, internships, and other opportunities designed to prepare students for successful careers and lives of responsible leadership.
Chodosh’s commitment to cultivating intellectual curiosity and independent thinking also shaped the broader academic culture at Claremont McKenna. Under his leadership, the college became a nationally recognized model for freedom of expression, viewpoint diversity, and constructive dialogue through its Open Academy, earning Heterodox Academy’s Institutional Excellence Award in 2019 and twice receiving the top ranking in the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression’s (FIRE) College Free Speech Rankings. In 2024, the college was among the first 25 institutions nationally to receive the Carnegie Foundation’s Leadership for Public Purpose classification, recognizing its institution-wide commitment to preparing students for responsible leadership and public service.
“I am honored and thrilled to join the National Constitution Center to build on its outstanding leadership and invaluable contributions to the country. I am also inspired and moved to advance the Center’s mission at this extraordinary, critical moment,” said Hiram Chodosh, President Emeritus of Claremont McKenna College and incoming President and CEO of the National Constitution Center. “The Constitution, its values, the civic commitments that derive from and reinforce it all define, guide, inspire us as a people and shape our leading role in the world. As we renew our vows during America’s 250th, infusing learning with these shared values and commitments over the next decade could not be more vital. Our constitutional republic and democracy and the success of our people depend on our ability to learn: the knowledge, understanding, and civic ethos and habits that invigorate and fortify life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, equal opportunity, and weave the social fabric that creates one, out of many.”
“The Civic Decade gives us a remarkable opportunity to advance this mission on a transformative, national scale,” Chodosh continued. “The Center enters this next chapter with incredible strengths: Philadelphia’s long-standing commitment to this world-class museum; the exceptional scholarship developed under the 12-year tenure of CEO Emeritus Jeffrey Rosen; innovative civic learning programs for people of all ages, both inside and outside formal educational settings, led by Chief Content and Learning Officer Julie Silverbrook; and an ambitious vision for the Civic Decade launched under the superb interim leadership of Vince Stango and the Board this past year. The National Constitution Center is now poised to join forces with the country’s constitutional experts, outstanding civic leaders, and committed institutions across all sectors. We will work together at every level to build the transformative vision, strategy, resources, effective implementation, and impact we need to answer our national calling.”
“After nearly three decades helping build the National Constitution Center, I have never been more excited about what lies ahead,” said Vince Stango, interim President and CEO and incoming Deputy CEO and Co-President. “I am enormously proud of what our exceptional team has accomplished during America’s 250th anniversary, and I am excited about welcoming Hiram as we embark on this next chapter together. Hiram shares our conviction that the Civic Decade can be a defining chapter in the Center’s history and a turning point for its national impact. I am thrilled to work alongside him. Together, we intend to build a bigger, bolder National Constitution Center for Philadelphia and for the nation.”
Distinguished Leaders Praise Chodosh’s Appointment
Chodosh’s appointment has drawn enthusiastic support from distinguished leaders in the legal, educational, and civic communities who have worked with him and the National Constitution Center:
“The National Constitution Center plays a uniquely important role in helping Americans understand the Constitution, our constitutional traditions, and the responsibilities of self-government,” said The Honorable Neil M. Gorsuch, Associate Justice, U.S. Supreme Court, and Honorary Co-Chair of the National Constitution Center. “Hiram Chodosh brings an unparalleled record of educational leadership, a deep commitment to lifelong learning, and a demonstrated ability to bring people together around serious questions and constructive dialogue. I congratulate Hiram on this appointment, Vince on his elevation and the successes of the semiquincentennial year, and look forward to their partnership and the Center’s continued contributions to constitutional education for generations to come.”
“Hiram Chodosh is a truly exceptional person, said The Honorable Guido Calabresi, Senior Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. “He combines top level vision with leadership qualities that are superb. He was, in my view, far and away the best College President of his generation. And what makes him most unusual is that he unites an extraordinary capacity to lead with ideas of what one ought to do that are always fresh and vital. The National Constitution Center will flourish under his leadership.
“The last 12 years have seen extraordinary threats to free speech on campus, along with a sharp decline in public trust in higher education,” said Jonathan Haidt, social psychologist and author of The Anxious Generation and co-author of The Coddling of The American Mind. “One of the few leaders who navigated through the turbulence and gave their institutions a better speech climate and greater national respect was Hiram Chodosh. I visited Claremont McKenna College near the beginning and near the end of his tenure. Hiram fully embraced the challenge. With patience, determination, and a willingness to try new techniques and then measure the results, Hiram somehow drew students out of their bubbles and beyond their anxieties to engage enthusiastically with each other and with ideas that clashed with their own. This is why Heterodox Academy presented Hiram and CMC with its Institutional Excellence Award in 2019.” Haidt continued, “I cannot imagine a better choice for the leadership of the National Constitution Center. The US Constitution is a brilliantly designed plan for harnessing disagreement and converting it into productive tension, action, and ultimately progress. Hiram’s leadership at CMC exemplified the principles and values that gave us the constitution, and I believe he is the ideal leader for an organization devoted to exploring, explaining, and celebrating this miraculous document.”
“Constitutional rights cannot survive, let alone thrive, unless citizens understand and cherish them. At this critical moment for our constitutional democracy, the National Constitution Center's mission of nonpartisan constitutional education has never been more essential, and Hiram Chodosh is an inspired choice to lead the Center,” said Nadine Strossen, Past National President of the American Civil Liberties Union and Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. “His principled and effective leadership in championing First Amendment freedoms and civil discourse will now reach far beyond the campus gates to the entire nation.”
“Hiram Chodosh has been one of the most thoughtful leaders in American higher education,” said Rajiv Vinnakota, President, Institute for Citizen & Scholars. “He knows that self-governing people have to learn to reason together across deep differences, and he has spent his career building places where that happens. As a leader of College Presidents for Civic Preparedness and a Distinguished Presidential Fellow at C&S, he has worked alongside and supported dozens of college presidents to prioritize civic preparation on their campuses. I can’t think of anyone better suited to lead the National Constitution Center into the Civic Decade.”
About Hiram Chodosh
Hiram E. Chodosh is President Emeritus of Claremont McKenna College and the Henry R. Kravis and George P. Roberts Chair in Leadership at Claremont McKenna College. He serves as a Visiting Fellow at the University of Oxford, Regent’s Park College and is a Presidential Fellow at the Institute for Citizens and Scholars. Chodosh is a prolific fundraiser, institution-builder, legal scholar, and expert in comparative and international law. He served as president of Claremont McKenna College from 2013 through 2026 and previously served as dean of the S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah. He began his academic career at Case Western Reserve University School of Law after practicing law at Cleary Gottlieb in New York.
Chodosh received his B.A. with high honors from Wesleyan University and his J.D. from Yale Law School. His scholarship focuses on comparative law, judicial independence, and legal-system reform, and he has worked on major legal reform projects in more than a dozen countries. He has served in advisory roles with the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, United Nations Development Programme, and U.S. State Department, among others. He received the Gandhi Peace Award in 2011.
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About the National Constitution Center
The National Constitution Center in Philadelphia brings together people of all ages and perspectives, across America and around the world, to learn about, debate, and celebrate the greatest vision of human freedom in history, the U.S. Constitution. A private, nonprofit organization, the Center serves as America’s leading platform for constitutional education and debate, fulfilling its congressional charter “to disseminate information about the U.S. Constitution on a nonpartisan basis.” As the Museum of We the People, the Center brings the Constitution to life for visitors of all ages through interactive programs and exhibits. As America’s Town Hall, the Center brings the leading conservative and liberal thought leaders together to debate the Constitution on all media platforms. As a Headquarters for Civic Education, the Center delivers the best educational programs and online resources that inspire citizens and engage all Americans in learning about the U.S. Constitution. For more information, call 215-409-6700 or visit constitutioncenter.org.
