Pace University Names Robert "Bobby" Ahdieh as Its Ninth President
A transformational leader in higher education, Ahdieh joins Pace from Texas A&M University and will take office January 1, 2027
NEW YORK, N.Y., October 20, 2026--Pace University, a private university with campuses in New York City and Westchester County known for combining academic rigor, real-world learning, and exceptional access to opportunity, today announced that Robert "Bobby" Ahdieh has been named the university's ninth president, effective January 1, 2027. Ahdieh, a renowned global legal scholar as well as a fierce and innovative believer in the power of higher education to transform lives, has been unanimously elected by the Board of Trustees, following a comprehensive and inclusive search process. He succeeds President Marvin Krislov, who announced earlier this year that he would step down, after nearly a decade leading the university.
Ahdieh joins Pace from Texas A&M University, where he served simultaneously as Dean and Anthony G. Buzbee Endowed Dean's Chair of Texas A&M University School of Law, Vice President for Professional Schools and Programs at Texas A&M University, and Chief Operating Officer of Texas A&M–Fort Worth.
"Bobby Ahdieh is exactly the kind of innovative leader that Pace University needs and deserves during an exciting moment of transformation," said Robert S. Sands, Chairman of the Pace Board of Trustees. "He is a bold institution-builder who has demonstrated time and again the rare ability to elevate academic quality, expand access, and drive transformational growth. He shares our deep belief that education is a powerful engine of social mobility and life-changing opportunity. Bobby will lead Pace forward with vision, energy, and an unwavering commitment to the students and communities we serve. I express my deepest gratitude to the members of our Presidential Search Committee, who contributed countless hours to this process, in pursuit of the right leader for Pace's future."
Since becoming Dean of Texas A&M Law in 2018, Ahdieh led one of the most dramatic institutional transformations in the history of American legal education. Under his leadership, the school climbed from 83rd to 22nd in national rankings — the most significant rise of any law school in the past 25 years. Enrollment grew more than fourfold, from 458 to over 2,000 students, while post-graduate employment reached 100%, the highest rate in the United States, and bar passage climbed from 73% to nearly 100%. Annual fundraising quadrupled and the school's budget moved from annual deficits to a revenue-positive position in under three years. And even as incoming academic metrics rose sharply, the racial and ethnic diversity of the student body nearly doubled as well.