(Story taken from the Sewanee: The University of the South
website)
SEWANEE, Tenn. - The Board of Trustees of 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.
The Trustees Wednesday unanimously 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 Department faculty
of Middlebury the same year. In addition to teaching, McCardell
served the college 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, C'67, for their
diligent service in bringing this search to a successful
conclusion," Bishop Alexander said.
More
information about John McCardell is available here.