William English Kirwan

Who is William English Kirwan?

William English "Brit" Kirwan is currently the third Chancellor of the University System of Maryland. Prior to that, Kirwan was the 26th President of the University of Maryland, College Park and the 12th President of Ohio State University. He was also a member of the faculty at the University of Maryland for 34 years.

Kirwan, the son of former University of Kentucky President A. D. Kirwan, received a bachelor's degree from the University of Kentucky, where he was a member of Delta Tau Delta fraternity and a Master's and Ph.D. from Rutgers University in 1962 and 1964.

Kirwan started at the University of Maryland, College Park as an assistant professor in the mathematics department, before going on to become a department chair, provost and ultimately university president. He helped lay the framework for the University System of Maryland in 1988 and was named university president in 1989. Financial crises during his tenure led to double-digit tuition increases, reduced class offerings and student protests and also were the reason he cited for his departure in 1998.

At Ohio State, Kirwan focused his attention on improving the academic standings during his tenure. He left Ohio State in 2002 to become chancellor of the University System of Maryland.