For longtime chancellor Samuel Mencoff, a journey from student to steward of Brown

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] - For Class of 1978 graduate Samuel M. Mencoff, Brown University has meant many things over more than six decades.

He grew up a few blocks away in Providence, within a stone's throw of Brown Stadium. He spent four years as an undergraduate, earning a degree in anthropology, playing freshman lacrosse and leading the Association of Fraternity Presidents. He and his future wife, Ann, enjoyed their first date at Meehan Auditorium on Dec. 11, 1976, watching the men's ice hockey team defeat Harvard 5-3.

Mencoff launched a tremendously successful career in private equity investment, as a founding partner and co-CEO of Madison Dearborn Partners in Chicago. And he has provided decades of service to Brown, as a member of the Corporation of Brown University and co-chair of the BrownTogether campaign, among a host of other engagement roles.

For the past eight years, he has served as the University's 21^st chancellor, leading the Brown Corporation in its responsibilities as the University's highest governing body. With his term culminating on June 30, Mencoff said his relationship with Brown has continually deepened throughout his life.

"One of my very earliest memories was hearing the football games announced over the loudspeakers at Brown Stadium," Mencoff said. "From that moment on, Brown was always a magical place to me, from my earliest consciousness. And now, a lifetime later, that magic and wonder is undiminished. Brown for me was an idea that was lit early and stayed bright. It was my ticket to a far wider world, and yet it was found so close to home."

By every measure, Mencoff has proven a superb leader, his colleagues on the Corporation and among Brown's senior leadership team say - both in moments of major challenge and in providing guidance on initiatives aimed at strengthening academic excellence and ensuring the continued vitality of the University.

"Sam Mencoff has led the Corporation with tremendous clarity of mission and purpose through some of the most significant and consequential times in the history of this university," President Christina H. Paxson said. "His deep and constant love for Brown has been clearly reflected in both the care and rigor with which Sam stewarded important decisions, always ensuring that we were setting priorities with a focus on the excellence of Brown's teaching and research, and especially the people who support our mission every day."

Mencoff's leadership was punctuated by a commitment to the core value of community, Paxson said. Alison S. Ressler, a Class of 1980 graduate and Corporation member who served as vice chancellor from 2016 to 2022, echoed that sentiment and called Mencoff an outstanding chancellor and an exceptional human being.

"Sam Mencoff is an incredibly keen listener, a quick study and a leader deeply invested in digging into every topic to ensure he masters the subject area, considers all relevant facts and comes to an informed opinion," Ressler said. "He leaves an indelible mark and contributed mightily to Brown's legacy for generations to come. His name will forever be a part of the University's history."

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