Brandeis Names New President

Brandeis University is naming Fred Lawrence, dean of George Washington University Law School, as its new president.

Lawrence spent 17 years teaching at Boston University and is a leading scholar on hate crimes. He says his path led him to Brandeis.

"Among the things I find most compelling about the Brandeis story and what drew me here as a candidate and make me just delighted to be the next president is the strong commitment to social justice — not just a surface piece of the program," Lawrence said.

Lawrence spoke of the school's namesake, U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Louis Brandeis, when discussing how he hopes to guide the Waltham institution going forward.

"I think you will continue to see a Brandeis that challenges ideas and free speech is taken very seriously," he said. "And that predates me because I’m thinking of the namesake himself who taught us the answer to bad speech is more speech."

Lawrence is replacing President Jehuda Reinharz, who is retiring. Reinharz made a controversial move in 2009 when he announced the school would close the Rose Art Museum and sell its 7,500 objects to raise money. He later said he “screwed up" with the decision.