To: The St. Lawrence Community
From: President Daniel F. Sullivan
Date: December 11, 2006
Subject: Vice President and Dean of Academic Affairs Grant Cornwell
With very mixed emotions, I write to share the news that Vice President of the University and Dean of Academic Affairs Grant Cornwell has accepted the presidency of the College of Wooster, a leading liberal arts college in Wooster, Ohio. This appointment reflects the national stature and respect that Grant has earned over his 20 years at St. Lawrence University, his alma mater. There are few scholars who as insightfully, compellingly and passionately explain and advocate for the liberal arts, global civic engagement and residential learning. We have been blessed to have him in our department of philosophy, as associate dean of the first year (1992-1997), and in his current role since 2002. During his five years as chief academic officer, among many accomplishments, he has worked with you to improve faculty diversity, further our programs in civic engagement, begin to re-imagine the role of advising and academic planning, and intensify our commitment to teaching writing, speaking, and research across the curriculum.
Grant begins his new duties July 1, 2007, and will remain in his position here until then.
Grant has extended his leadership throughout the world of higher education. He served on the national advisory board of Liberal Education and Global Citizenship: The Arts of Democracy, a three-year faculty and curriculum development initiative of the Association of American Colleges and Universities, from 2001 to 2004. He also served as a fellow of the National Learning Communities Project, a leadership group convened by the Washington Center for Improving the Quality of Undergraduate Education, from 2000 to 2004.
He is co-editor of two books: Global Multiculturalism: Comparative Perspectives on Ethnicity, Race, and Nation and Democratic Education in an Age of Difference: Redefining Citizenship in Higher Education. He has authored more than two dozen scholarly articles or chapters in edited volumes, as well as a CD-ROM on the history of slavery and the sugar industry in St. Kitts.
I have known the College of Wooster well for over twenty years, have worked with Grant’s two predecessors as president there in a variety of settings, and have gotten to know several of Wooster’s best faculty and staff, primarily through my efforts in national undergraduate science education reform. It is an honest, earnest place, with a clear vision of excellence in liberal arts education, and a very high level of achievement. In a study of graduates from all disciplines across 514 independent four-year colleges nationally, Wooster ranks 14th in the percentage of its graduates who have subsequently earned a Ph.D. Among Wooster graduates are a Nobel laureate as well as recipients of various prestigious post-graduate awards, including the Rhodes and Goldwater scholarships and Watson and Fulbright fellowships. It is a college worthy of one of the two or three best academic deans at a liberal arts college in America, which is where I believe Grant ranks.
Knowing full well how good the fit between Grant and Wooster would be, and not wanting to lose him, throughout the search I sought to help him understand Wooster better. I looked everywhere I could for flaws to contrast it unfavorably with St. Lawrence, and given my long experience I did indeed find some. They are the Fighting Scots, for example, and Grant, though Scottish by descent, is peace-loving, and their kilts are yellow and black, and apparently the president must wear a kilt occasionally in college ceremonies—who would want to be president of such a place?
I will commence a search for his replacement as vice president of the University and dean of academic affairs immediately. As we have in our last two vice pesident and dean searches, I would like Faculty Council (minus any declared candidates for the position) to serve as the search committee. I will be working out with Faculty Council shortly what our process will be and we will review together for sharing on campus a draft statement about the position of vice president and dean. It is my intention to complete the search and appoint a new vice president and dean from out of the faculty by the middle of the spring semester.
But for now, please join Ann and me as we wish Grant and Peg all the very best on this grand adventure. They, as we, will find it the most rewarding work that can be done.
