Northeastern University Announces Appointment of Dr. Joseph Aoun as University's Seventh President.

BOSTON -- Dean of the University of Southern California's College of Letters, Arts and Sciences to be formally introduced at 1:30 p.m. press conference at Northeastern

Northeastern University's Board of Trustees announced today the appointment of Joseph Aoun, Ph.D. as the University's seventh president and successor to Dr. Richard Freeland. The announcement of Dr. Aoun as president of Northeastern concludes an eight-month search process.

Dr. Aoun is an internationally known scholar in linguistics and brings over twenty years of higher education experience to Northeastern. As Dean of the University of Southern California's (USC) College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, Dr. Aoun is responsible for the management and oversight of the largest of USC's 19 academic schools, with more than 30 academic departments and programs, more than 10,000 undergraduate students and more than 1,000 graduate students enrolled in some 30 Ph.D. programs. Under his leadership the College redefined its undergraduate education, strengthened graduate programs and launched distinctive partnerships with educational and cultural organizations such as the Getty Research Institute, the Huntington Library, and the Shoah Foundation, which became part of the College in January 2006.

"This is an exciting day for the Northeastern community as we welcome a new president who embodies the characteristics, experience and vision necessary to understand the challenges and opportunities that come with leading a major urban university," said Neal F. Finnegan, Chairman of the Board of Trustees. "Dr. Aoun's track record of success in higher education administration and development, coupled with his reputation as a renowned scholar, will be critical as he works with faculty, students and the broader Northeastern community to pursue an aggressive agenda that seeks to strengthen and expand Northeastern's mission of practice oriented education."

In August of 2005, after a decade of leadership, Dr. Richard Freeland announced that he would be stepping down at the end of the 2005-2006 academic year. Following his announcement, Northeastern University's Board of Trustees established a search committee comprised of members of the Northeastern community to initiate a process to find candidates who could build on the successes of the Freeland administration. In addition to hiring a search consultant to support the search process, the committee also held a series of meetings with members of the faculty, administration, student body, alumni and others in order to gain insight into specific needs of the university and help guide the presidential selection process.

"I would like to thank all the members of the search committee for their commitment and dedication to the integrity of the search process, which produced a diverse group of talented and top caliber applicants," said George W. Chamillard, member of the Board of Trustees and Chairman of the Search Committee. "The appointment of someone as accomplished as Dr. Aoun is a testament to the hard work, dedication and commitment that our students, faculty and administration exhibit on a daily basis to ensure that Northeastern lives up to its reputation as one of the top private colleges in America."

A native of Beirut, Lebanon, Dr. Aoun spent time in Boston as a student, receiving his Ph.D. from the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1981. In 1982 he joined the USC faculty and in 1993 was elected president of the Academic Senate. After a six-year term as USC College's Dean of Faculty, and then a term as the College's Vice Dean in 1999, he was named Dean of the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences in 2000.

Dr. Aoun will begin his tenure at Northeastern on August 15, 2006.

"I am honored to assume the role of President of Northeastern University and excited by the opportunity to work with an outstanding faculty, enterprising and gifted student body, accomplished alumni and first-rate administration and board," said Dr. Aoun. "As president, my first priority will be working with all of these constituencies to build on the momentum the university has created to propel it to even greater levels of excellence. As one of the nation's major urban universities, with a pioneering emphasis on experiential learning, Northeastern has a unique role to play in educating the leaders and innovators of tomorrow."

Northeastern University is considered one of the top private colleges in America. The University continues to rise in the U.S. News & World Report annual rankings of "America's Best Colleges", most recently rising to 115 from 150 in 2002. The campus has undergone a physical transformation, and the college remains true to its core values as a student-centered, practice-oriented, urban institution.

About Northeastern: Northeastern University, located in the heart of Boston, Massachusetts, is a world leader in practice-oriented education and recognized for its expert faculty and first-rate academic and research facilities. Northeastern integrates challenging liberal arts and professional studies with the nation's largest cooperative education program. Through co-op, Northeastern undergraduates alternate semesters of full-time study with semesters of paid work in fields relevant to their professional interests and major, giving them nearly two years of professional experience upon graduation. The majority of Northeastern graduates receive a job offer from a co-op employer. Cited for excellence four years running by U.S. News & World Report, Northeastern has quickly moved up into the top tier rankings-an impressive 35 spots in four years. In addition, Northeastern was named a top college in the 2006 edition of the Princeton Review's annual "Best Colleges" issue. For more information, please visit http://www.northeastern.edu.