President of The College of New Jersey
Michael A. Bernstein joined The College of New Jersey on July 1, 2023, as interim president. He was appointed the 17th president of TCNJ on June 6, 2024.
Since arriving on campus in July 2023, Bernstein has championed the college’s mission, developing creative ways to build on the exceptional quality of a TCNJ education while stewarding our institution toward a financially sustainable future. With a commitment to transparency, he has engaged stakeholder groups and shared governance to develop innovative initiatives that signal an exciting new chapter for our college.
An accomplished educator and administrator, Bernstein previously served as provost at Stony Brook University, having also served as that institution’s interim president from August 2019 through May 2020. During that time, he guided the university through unprecedented challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, including a move to fully remote instruction in 2020.
At Stony Brook, Bernstein also led numerous initiatives aimed at supporting the university’s missions in research, scholarship, art-making, and teaching. He also fortified various programs focused on increasing the number of underserved and underrepresented students, enhancing retention and timely graduation outcomes, and facilitating the orientation (and success) of international enrollees.
From 2007 to 2016, Bernstein served as provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at Tulane University, where he helped guide the institution’s recovery from the devastating impact of Hurricane Katrina.
Bernstein spent 20 years at the University of California, San Diego, from 1987 to 2007. A faculty member in the departments of economics and history and of the science studies program, he also ultimately served as dean of arts and humanities and chair of the history department.
His tenure at The College of New Jersey represents a homecoming for Bernstein, who began his teaching career in the Garden State at Princeton University. From 1982 to 1987, he was an assistant professor of history, teaching U.S. economic history and assisting in general U.S. history and economics instruction.
Bernstein is a member of the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and the Association of Governing Boards Council of Presidents. He has presented nationally on the topic of institutional governance and post-Katrina recovery.
He received his PhD (1982), MPhil (1980), MA (1978), and BA (1976), all in economics, from Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. The author of six books and numerous articles, essays, and commentaries, Bernstein’s teaching and research interests focus on U.S. economic and political history, macroeconomic theory, industrial organization economics, and the history of economic theory.
A native of New York City, Bernstein has two daughters who are currently pursuing professional careers in Los Angeles. His late domestic partner of over 22 years, Patti Harp, served for many years as a senior business affairs officer at UC San Diego.