Brown University President Christina Paxson announced Monday she would be stepping down from her position at the end of the 2026–2027 academic year.

​Paxson, who has served as the Ivy League president for 15 years, announced the upcoming end of her tenure in a letter addressed to the Brown community.

​“Fifteen years is a significant tenure for any president, and in that time, this amazing community of faculty, staff, students, alumni, parents and friends showed up in so many ways to achieve the bold aspirations in the strategic plan we developed together near the beginning of my presidency,” she  wrote.

​In the last couple of years, the university faced a battle with the federal government after the Trump administration moved to freeze federal research funding. Brown settled with the administration, which restored the funding after the school committed $50 million to workforce development programs in Rhode Island.

​The agreement drew criticism from some faculty members and students, who argued the university conceded too much on issues including transgender athlete policies and admissions. Despite the backlash, Paxson defended the agreement.

​“I am proud that we came to an agreement with the federal government that restored our funding while staying true to Brown’s values,” Paxson stated in her resignation letter.

​She later rejected Trump's “compact” for higher education, saying it would undermine the university’s autonomy.

​Paxson also led the university through a December shooting that killed two and injured nine others, where questions about campus security arose.

In a separate letter to the Brown community, Chancellor Brian T. Moynihan thanked Paxson for her time as the university's president and stated a national search has begun to find the 20th president for the beginning of next year's school year.