Peter Baldwin (born December 22, 1956)[1] is a research professor of history at the University of California, Los Angeles, Global Distinguished Professor at New York University, and a philanthropist.[2]
He was educated at Harvard (MA and PhD, both in History 1980 and 1986), and Yale (BA Philosophy and History, 1978).[3] He has written several books on the comparative history of Europe and America.
Baldwin also serves on the boards of the New York Public Library,[4] the American Council of Learned Societies,[5] the Central European University,[6] and as chair of the board of the Center for Jewish History.[7]
With his wife Lisbet Rausing, who is an heir of the Tetra Pak fortune, Baldwin co-founded the Arcadia Fund in 2001. The Fund has given away over $1 billion to charities and scholarly institutions globally that preserve cultural heritage and the environment and promote open access.[8]
Arcadia-funded projects include the Endangered Languages Documentation Programme at the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities,[9] The Endangered Archives Programme at the British Library[10] and Fauna & Flora International's Halcyon Land and Sea fund.
Baldwin joined the advisory board of the Wikimedia Endowment in 2016.[11] Baldwin and Rausing gave $5 million to the Wikimedia Endowment in 2017[12] and are listed among the biggest benefactors to the Wikimedia Foundation.[13]
