The university has announced that Andrew Hamilton, vice chancellor of the University of Oxford, will succeed John Sexton as the 16th president of NYU. In an email sent Wednesday, the university said Hamilton would begin his tenure as president in January of 2016.

The search for a new president started in September 2014 with the creation of a Presidential Search Committee, comprising trustees, faculty, students and administrators. The committee received over 200 nominations and held 27 listening sessions before narrowing down the list of candidates.

Hamilton served as provost of Yale University from 2004 to 2008. Aside from his administrative positions, Hamilton was a professor of chemistry at Oxford, Yale University, Princeton University and the University of Pittsburgh.

As president of NYU, Hamilton said he will work to make education affordable for all students by continuing NYU’s fundraising efforts, including the Momentum Campaign, to provide better financial aid.

“During my time in Oxford and indeed when I was provost at Yale I placed the highest priority on affordability of education and most importantly about ensuring that the cost is not an impediment to those particularly from disadvantaged income backgrounds,” Hamilton said. “When I come to NYU I’m going to want to play a very active role in that fundraising campaign and I hope we will blow through a billion dollars quickly and actually set a higher goal.”

Hamilton added that he wants to focus on academics and teaching, but in order for students to have access to the best quality education, investment in new facilities will be required.

“I hope I’ll be able to bring a very strong emphasis on core academic issues, the teaching that we offer our students, the high quality of research that’s carried out in NYC and in the overseas campuses,” Hamilton said. “We are making sure that the faculty and the students carrying out research have the very best experience possible and that will mean investment, that will mean building new buildings, all great universities must invest in their facilities, otherwise they will fall behind, they will fall behind worldwide competitors, we will lose students, we will lose outstanding faculty. ”

In an email to the NYU community, the university and the Presidential Search Committee said they believed Hamilton is the right fit for NYU and will help move the university forward.

“Everywhere he has served has benefited from the quality and style of his leadership,” the email reads. “It was clear to us that he understood NYU — our urban character, our distinctive global presence, our vibrancy, our diverse community, our focus on the future, our innovative spirit, our sense of being on the move and our habit of exceeding others’ expectations.”

CAS senior and student member of the Presidential Search Committee Jules O’Connor said she was confident the committee had made the right choice.

“I think that he will do great things at the university and the whole committee really felt that throughout the entire process he was really the one who encompassed a lot of the qualities, if not every quality, that we were looking for: a strong leader, a great visionary, someone who is really willing and able to keep moving the university forward,” O’Connor said.

Sexton said in a press release that being president of NYU has been a great privilege, but he is looking forward to seeing what Hamilton will do for the university.

“I know and admire him, and I am certain he will do great things for the University,” Sexton said.  For my own part, I have had no higher calling in my life than to be a teacher and to contribute to building strong institutions. For nearly 35 years, I have had the exceptional privilege of being able to do both those things at NYU.”

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