John McCardell elected 16th Vice chancellor and president of the university of the south
The Board of Trustees of Sewanee: The University of the South has elected a distinguished historian and national leader in liberal arts education to be the University's 16th president and vice chancellor.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010, the trustees today elected John M. McCardell, Jr., president emeritus of Middlebury College, following a national search that began in February 2009. McCardell's appointment is effective July 1. He succeeds Joel Cunningham, who will retire June 30, 2010, after 10 years as vice chancellor.
"John
McCardell's record of achievement as a scholar, as the chief executive of
one of America's finest liberal arts colleges, and as a respected national
figure in the public discussion about higher education and student life extends
the work of his predecessors and the pursuit of the vision of Sewanee's founders:
to establish a national university located in the South," said the Rt. Rev.
J. Neil Alexander, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta, chancellor
of the University and chair of the Board of Trustees. "He is an inspirational
leader who will strengthen Sewanee's historic commitment to excellence in
the liberal arts and service to the Episcopal Church. We are delighted that
he has answered this call to service."
McCardell, 60, a professor of history at Middlebury College, served as Middlebury's president from 1992 until he stepped down in 2004. A Maryland native and 1971 graduate of Washington and Lee University, he pursued graduate study at The Johns Hopkins University and then at Harvard University, where he received his Ph.D. in history in 1976. He joined the history faculty of Middlebury the same year. In addition to teaching, McCardell served Middlebury as dean for academic development and planning, dean of the faculty, provost, and vice president for academic affairs before being named president.
As Middlebury's president, McCardell directed a comprehensive strategic planning effort and led a successful capital campaign, which exceeded its $200 million goal by almost $12 million. He presided over growth in both enrollment and faculty at the college, identified areas of excellence, and developed a plan for committing new resources to those strengths.
"I look forward to working with the entire Sewanee community to advance what I consider one of the true gems of American higher education," said McCardell. "The prospect of serving a unique institution whose history and traditions are so inextricably tied to the American South and to the Episcopal Church, and where the academic attainment of its faculty, students, and alumni is so distinguished, was one to which I felt particularly drawn. I can't think of a better fit, nor a better time to seize this moment of great institutional opportunity."
A prolific writer specializing in 19th-century U.S. history, McCardell is the author of "The Idea of a Southern Nation," developed from his Ph.D. dissertation, as well as many essays, chapters, articles, and book reviews.
McCardell served as chairman of the Division III Presidents' Council of the NCAA in 2003-04 and led a successful, comprehensive reform effort.
Three years ago McCardell founded Choose Responsibility, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to engage the public in informed and dispassionate debate about the effects of legislation mandating a legal drinking age of 21. In 2008 he co-sponsored the Amethyst Initiative, a statement signed by 135 college and university presidents that challenges the effectiveness of current drinking-age laws.
McCardell will remain as president of Choose Responsibility through June 30, and will be succeeded by Barrett Seaman, author of "Binge: Campus Life in an Age of Disconnection and Excess" and a founding board member of Choose Responsibility. Though he will be stepping down as president of Choose Responsibility, McCardell will remain active in the issue, he said, continuing to serve on the organization's board and maintaining a leadership role in expanding the Amethyst Initiative in higher education.
McCardell is active in civic and community affairs and serves on numerous civic, professional, and corporate boards, including the National Bank of Middlebury, the American Civil War Center, Vermont Public Radio, and as co-chair of the Addison County United Way campaign. A lifelong Episcopalian, he has served on the vestry and as senior warden of St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Middlebury. He is married to Bonnie Greenwald McCardell, an advocate for quality childcare and education as well as eldercare and retirement communities. They have two grown sons, John and James.
"I extend my thanks and appreciation to the Search Committee and its chair, Joel A. Smith, III, of Sewanee's class of 1967, for their diligent service in bringing this search to a successful conclusion," Bishop Alexander said.
Sewanee: The University of the South, familiarly known as Sewanee, comprises a nationally recognized College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, a distinguished School of Theology, and a School of Letters offering innovative summer graduate programs. Located on 13,000 acres atop Tennessee's Cumberland Plateau, Sewanee enrolls 1,500 undergraduates and approximately 130 seminarians and graduate students in its School of Theology. In 2007-08, the University celebrated the 150th anniversary of its founding and completed an historic capital campaign that raised more than $205 million for facilities, endowment, special academic initiatives, and operating support.
