Earlham president will retire in 2017

Earlham College President David Dawson announced Thursday he plans to retire in 2017 after six years of leading the school.

Dawson was a professor of religion and a former provost at Haverford College in Pennsylvania when he was announced as Earlham's 17th president in March 2011. He began his duties in Richmond on July 1 of that year and will end them on June 30, 2017, marking a full six years in the job.

“I have been honored and privileged to lead one of the world’s finest liberal arts colleges,” Dawson said in a statement Thursday. “As a community, we have created a foundation that has positioned Earlham to thrive in the face of whatever the future holds.”

The search for Dawson's replacement will begin immediately, according to Deborah Hull, chair of the college's board of trustees. A committee will be formed to take on the search with a goal of having a new president named before the end of this year.

“On behalf of the board of trustees, I would like to thank David for his leadership and service to the Earlham community,” Hull said. “A strong foundation is in place for the long-term health of the college.”

During his inauguration ceremony in October 2011, Dawson vowed to grow Earlham's applicant pool, increase the number of students who graduate in four years, build balanced budgets, improve financial aid and deepen the college's academic programs.

That same day, Hull said the board had approved plans for new science and fine arts buildings as part of a capital campaign that already was underway.

The next year, Earlham broke ground for its new Center for Visual and Performing Arts, which would open in the fall of 2014. Renovation of the science facilities in Stanley Hall and a transformation of Tyler Hall already had begun. Construction soon followed on a new baseball facility, Randal R. Sadler Stadium.

Not long after arriving on campus, Dawson told a group of local business leaders he wanted to grow enrollment from 1,100 students to 1,600. However, enrollment has slid in the years since, with the current student body at 1,019 students, according to the college's website.

But the school said Thursday more than 360 new students have enrolled for this fall, making the class of 2020 "Earlham’s largest in recent decades."

“As I consider the many challenges facing higher education these days, I am confident Earlham will continue to be in a very strong position, well prepared to stand side-by-side with the top institutions in the world,” Dawson said. “Guided by our strategic plan, we have a firm platform on which Earlham’s next president and the entire Earlham community can keep building with confidence.”

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