Meet President Bravman

Securing the Future 

Bravman led the University to the successful conclusion of its most ambitious fundraising campaign ever — the $500 million WE DO Campaign — on July 1, 2017. The University surpassed the half-billion dollar goal with $513 million raised, including more than $170 million for financial aid endowment, and more than $100 million for academic programs and support.

Bravman has now presided over the largest philanthropic commitments in school history, led by a $40 million pledge from Michael Pascucci ’58, P’81, P’87, G’21, G’22 in August 2021.

On the same day the University announced the conclusion of WE DO, it established its third college — the Freeman College of Management — positioning Bucknell to build upon its unique combination of academic breadth in a highly personalized, undergraduate, living-learning environment.

In 2018, with broad input from faculty, staff and students, Bravman spearheaded the Plan for Bucknell 2025, which was approved by both the faculty and the University Board of Trustees in spring 2019. The University’s first new strategic plan in 13 years, it serves as a guide for reaching institutional goals for academics, residence life, diversity and inclusion, accessibility, and environmental and financial sustainability, ensuring Bucknell’s leadership in higher education for generations to come.

The Student Experience

Bravman’s unwavering focus on the undergraduate student experience guides his University leadership, as shown in his deep commitment to the health and safety of Bucknell students during the global COVID-19 pandemic. Through careful management in consultation with medical professionals, administrators and faculty, he led the University’s successful efforts to keep campus open and ensure the continued delivery of instruction while mitigating risk to students, employees and community members. 

Bravman’s dedication to expanding academic opportunities and resources for students is evidenced most recently by three new interdisciplinary centers that serve students from all three of Bucknell’s colleges: the Center for Access & Success, which supports students in the University’s five pathway scholarship programs; the Dominguez Center for Data Science, which equips students with the technological skills to address global challenges in the digital age; and the Perricelli-Gegnas Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, which expanded the entrepreneurial ecosystem of the University and helps students transform their creative ideas into real-world products and services.

Bravman champions freedom of expression as a bedrock value of democracy and education, and works to ensure that the campus community welcomes all voices and perspectives. His efforts include hosting the Bucknell Forum, an annual speaker series that brings national experts and leaders to the University to examine important issues from multidisciplinary and diverse viewpoints.

To facilitate dialogue on current administrative challenges in undergraduate education, Bucknell in 2018 launched The Presidents Dinner, an on-the-record conversation between members of the national news media who cover higher education and leaders of prestigious colleges and universities. As host of this event, held annually at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., Bravman moderates a lively discussion of the most pressing issues facing these institutions. 

Campus and Downtown Enhancements

Bravman has reaffirmed Bucknell's commitment to providing an exceptional residential learning experience through numerous improvements to the University’s campus. They include Academic West, a home for the social sciences; the South Campus Apartments, comprising four residence halls and MacDonald Commons; the Graham Building, the home of Bucknell Student Health, the Counseling & Student Development Center, and a state-of-the-art wrestling facility; the renovated Carnegie Library Building, which houses student and faculty support offices; Hildreth-Mirza Hall, which houses the University’s Humanities Center, the Griot Institute for the Study of Black Lives & Cultures, and the Bucknell University Press; Academic East, a space dedicated to the College of Engineering and the Department of Education; Holmes Hall, the home of the Freeman College of Management and the Department of Art & Art History; the Pascucci Family Athletics Complex, which enhanced and expanded facilities for Bucknell’s Divison l student-athletes; and West Campus Apartments, which will include five residential buildings when completed in August 2025.

Off campus, Bravman continues to strengthen ties between the University and the region. Since his arrival, Bucknell has renovated several properties in downtown Lewisburg, including the Campus Theatre, the Post Office Building and the DeWitt Building, which is home to the University’s Entrepreneurs Incubator, Small Business Development Center and the Samek Art Museum’s Downtown Gallery.

An Engineer and Civic Leader

Born in 1957, Bravman grew up in New York City and on Long Island. He completed his bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in materials science and engineering at Stanford University, where he enjoyed a 35-year career with numerous honors and administrative positions, including vice provost for undergraduate education, before he joined Bucknell. He has published more than 160 peer-reviewed articles and has been cited in nearly 5,000 publications by scientists and engineers around the world. A tenured professor of electrical engineering, Bravman has taught primarily in the fields of materials structure and analysis, thin-film mechanical phenomena, microelectronic reliability and high-temperature superconductivity, and has patented two coatings that may make coronary stents safer for heart disease patients.

Bravman is a member of the Geisinger Health Board, which he chaired from 2016 through 2023, as well as the board of Risant Health. He also serves as a member of the NCAA Division l Board of Directors and represents the Patriot League in this role. In addition, he was named to the Council on Competitiveness, a national nonprofit organization of business, academic, government and labor leaders that works to enhance the economic competitiveness and productivity of the United States. In 2024, the Posse Foundation honored Bravman with its Posse Gala Star award in recognition of his commitment to the University’s longtime three-city Posse partnership.

In April 2018, the Bucknell Board of Trustees unanimously voted to extend Bravman’s contract through June 2025. In October 2022, the Board unanimously approved a second contract extension through at least 2028, which will give him the third-longest tenure among Bucknell presidents.

Bravman is married to Professor Wendelin Wright, who is a faculty member in the mechanical and chemical engineering departments at Bucknell and mechanical engineering chair. They have two young sons, Cole and Cooper. John has two older sons, Christopher and Matthew, and three grandchildren.