Princeton's 17th president, William Bowen, dead at 83

PRINCETON, N.J. (AP) - Princeton University says the Ivy League school's 17th president has died. William Bowen was 83.

The university says Bowen died at his Princeton home on Thursday.

Bowen was 38 years old and a professor of economics and public affairs when he became Princeton's president in 1972. The school says Bowen created new departments, with emphasis on arts and life sciences, and tripled the school's endowment by the time his term ended in 1988.

In a statement, Princeton President Christopher Eisgruber called Bowen a "formidable leader" who enhanced the school's "research profile, diversified its student body and added to its resources."

Bowen was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and graduated from Denison University in Granville, Ohio. He received his doctoral degree in economics from Princeton.

He is survived by a wife, a son and a daughter.

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