Newly named George Washington University President Steven Knapp vowed Tuesday to build on the accomplishments of his predecessor to turn the already prominent private school into a world-renowned institution.

Knapp, 55, the provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, was named Tuesday to succeed Stephen Joel Trachtenberg, who has been at the helm of George Washington since 1988. In August, Knapp will become the 16th president of the school, which is the city’s largest nongovernmental employer and is home to 10,000 students. Trachtenberg, 68, will become president emeritus.