Baird Tipson was inaugurated as the twenty-sixth president of Washington College in a formal ceremony with faculty, staff, student, and alumni participants.
On June 16, 2003, the Washington College Board of Visitors and Governors appointed a chair for the Presidential Search Committee, authorized its makeup, and directed the committee to undertake the important work that would lead to the appointment of the next president of Washington College.
Members of the Search Committee are:
Thomas S. Maddux, Chair
Chairman and CEO, American Stone Mix (retired)
Baltimore, Maryland
T. Clayton Black
Associate Professor and Chair, Department History
Chestertown, Maryland
Elizabeth Likens Boyce '96
College Trustee
Director of Development, Depression and Related Affective Disorders Association
Baltimore, Maryland
Richard L. Gillin
Professor of English
Chestertown, Maryland
Lauren M. Littlefield '91
Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology
Chestertown, Maryland
Holt L. (Jay) Marchant '63
College Trustee
President, About Your Benefits, Inc.
Queenstown, Maryland
Kevin O'Keefe '74
College Trustee Emeritus
Managing Director, Weber Shandwick Worldwide/Baltimore
Baltimore, Maryland
Joachim J. Scholz
Provost and Dean of the College
Chestertown, Maryland
Valarie Sheppard '86
President, Washington College Alumni Council
Office of Human Resources, DC Public School System
Washington, DC
Ralph Snyderman '61
College Trustee
Chancellor for Health Affairs, Duke University Medical Center
Linda J. Spire
College Trustee
St. Michaels, Maryland
Peter Van Dyke
College Trustee
Managing Director, T. Row Price Associates (Retired)
Chestertown, Maryland
John Whitmore
College Trustee and Parent
Senior Adviser, Bessemer Trust Company
New York, New York
Jack S. Griswold, Advisory
Trustee and Chair, Board of Visitors and Governors
Director and Senior Adviser, Brown Investment Advisory and Trust Co.
Baltimore, Maryland
Ted Lewis, Consultant
Academic Search Consultation Service
Washington, D.C.
Joseph L. Holt '83, M'98, Staff
Executive Vice President
Chestertown, Maryland
To the Members of the Washington College Community:
It is with the greatest respect and appreciation that I accept the leadership of Washington College. I am honored to be selected as the 26th president of one of the nation's most distinguished academic institutions.
Since the time I began serious study of American religious and intellectual history in graduate school, the vision of the founders of this nation have occupied a steady place in my mind. They recognized that the best guarantee of our democratic system, and the surest defense against tyranny and anarchy, was an educated citizenry. George Washington and William Smith, our patron and our founder, gave life to the vision of the Founding Fathers by the establishment of Washington College. The broad, general education in the liberal arts that has been the hallmark of Washington College for 222 years stands today as enduring testament to their wisdom.
I am excited and energized by the opportunities I will inherit from the successful presidents who have preceded me. In particular, I am honored to inherit the mantle of leadership from John Toll, who defines the standard of a great college presidency.
I intend to build upon the College's tradition of excellence in the liberal arts and affirm its commitment to providing a truly personalized education. I seek to discover how our unique geographic setting amid the ecological bounty of the Chesapeake can make our education both richer and more distinctive. I look forward to working with, and learning from, faculty, staff, students, alumni, trustees and friends, as well as the citizens of Chestertown. Together, we can lead Washington College to an even more prominent and respected position among the nation's liberal arts colleges.
My wife Sarah and I look forward to meeting you, and to sharing in your pride and love for Washington College.
Baird Tipson
To the Washington College Community:
Nine months ago, President John Toll announced his intention to retire from Washington College on June 30, 2004. Following his announcement, a national search was launched to recruit our next President. It is my pleasure to inform you that this process has come to a successful conclusion.
Today the Board of Visitors and Governors elected Baird Tipson as the 26th President of Washington College. Baird is currently the President of Wittenberg University, in Springfield, Ohio, which has prospered under his leadership through the completion of the largest capital campaign in Wittenberg's history, the doubling of the institution's endowment and major enhancements to its campus facilities.
Baird earned his Ph.D. in religious studies at Yale University. As an undergraduate he majored in religion and history at Princeton University, graduating summa cum laude as a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He also studied at Phillips Universitat in Germany and has been a Rockefeller Dissertation Fellow, a Woodrow Wilson Fellow, and a Fulbright-Hays Fellow.
Prior to assuming the presidency of Wittenberg in 1995, Baird served as Provost (1987-1995) and Acting President (1988) of Gettysburg College. Throughout his career in administration, he has remained engaged in teaching and scholarly pursuits as a professor of religion with research interests and publications that focus on Puritanism, Calvinism and Early English Protestantism.
We are pleased that Baird has agreed to accept the leadership of our college and that he and his wife, Sarah, will be joining the Washington College family this summer. His successful career in higher education demonstrates a resourceful mix of leadership, managerial and fundraising skills, and a vision and passion for the liberal arts that will make him an ideal president for Washington College. He will build upon the unparalleled success the College has enjoyed during John Toll's presidency and will provide leadership for the College as we move to define and secure our future.
I would like to express my great appreciation to Tuck Maddux and the other members of the Presidential Screening Committee. They have invested a great deal of time and energy on this task and have achieved a most welcome outcome. Their service to Washington College is appreciated by all.
I hope you will join me in welcoming Baird Tipson to our college community.
Sincerely,
Jack S. Griswold
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