​​Peter McDonough joined ACE in January 2015. He focuses on a wide range of higher education legal issues, including student and faculty affairs, athletics, campus safety and security, intellectual property, compliance and institutional governance. McDonough informs ACE’s judicial and regulatory advocacy on these and other legal issues.

​​He is the former general counsel of Princeton University, where he was responsible for all institutional legal advice and representation. He was personally attentive to a broad array of matters ranging from student conduct, employment, diversity and inclusion to research integrity, construction and restricted funds usage. McDonough joined Princeton’s legal staff in 1990. As general counsel from 2002-14, he was part of the university's senior management team and served on a variety of institutional committees, including the Executive Compliance Committee and the Conflicts of Interest Review Panel.

​​McDonough has been active in the National Association of College and University Attorneys, serving on its board of directors, chairing its Committee on Legal Education and serving as a member or co-chair of various other committees.

​​​​Prior to Princeton, he practiced as a litigator and trial lawyer at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius' New York office. He received his A.B. (in economics) and J.D. from Georgetown University. ​