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Emerson College names new president

Print | Comments () Posted by Martin Finucane September 8, 2010 11:20 AM

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By Tracy Jan and Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

Lee Pelton, the president of Willamette University in Salem, Ore., has been appointed to serve as the 12th president of Emerson College, the college announced today.

M. Lee Pelton

"Emerson is an exciting, cutting-edge college of communication and arts," Pelton said in an interview this morning. "I am passionate about the arts. I am deeply engaged in what I call the techno-cultural revolution that we are in. And I believe that Emerson has the capacity to be an intellectual and academic leader in both of these areas."

Jacqueline Liebergott, who had been president of the college since the early 1990s, announced in December that she would step down in 2011.

Pelton is "a dynamic leader with an impressive record of accomplishment in higher education, a steadfast commitment to academic excellence and diversity, and what those who know him well describe as a calm but confident demeanor and a passion for stewardship," Peter Meade, president of the college's board of trustees, said in a letter to the college community.

Pelton previously served as dean of the college at Colgate University and at Dartmouth College.

A graduate of Wichita State University, he received a PhD in English from Harvard University. He has written extensively on higher education and is a nationally known speaker on education, diversity, and the liberal arts, Meade said in his letter.

The appointment came after a committee conducted a nationwide search for a new president. Pelton emerged as the "clear choice" after a comprehensive review, Meade said.

"He has the vision and experience needed to build on the extraordinary progress Emerson has made under President Liebergott and take the college to new levels of achievement," the letter said.

The first female president of the college since its founding in 1880, Liebergott led the college's relocation to its current space near Boston Common and has said she believes the move is one of her greatest accomplishments at the school, which is known for its strong arts and communications programs.