St. Olaf College Names '74 Alumnus as President
David R. Anderson of St. Olaf College’s class of ’74 was named the 11th president of the school on Wednesday.
David R. Anderson of St. Olaf College’s class of ’74 was named the 11th president of the school on Wednesday.
The St. Olaf Board of Regents in unanimous consent voted to make the English professor and provost at Denison University in Granville, Ohio, the new president of St. Olaf – one of 28 colleges and universities associated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Anderson will replace the Rev. Dr. Christopher M. Thomforde, who has served as president since January 2001.
"David has a complete understanding of and absolute passion for what it means to be a liberal arts college of the church," said Jerrol M. Tostrud '60, chair of the St. Olaf Board of Regents, in a news release by the school on Wednesday. "That came across early in the interview process, and that obviously is one of our core beliefs and principles at St. Olaf."
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The St. Olaf position will be Anderson’s first college presidency and a role that Anderson anticipates will require both leadership and collaboration skills.
Anderson was raised in La Crosse, Wis., where his parents still reside. He is a 1974 graduate of St. Olaf, and also studied at Manchester College in Oxford, England. He earned a doctorate in English from Boston College and studied at the Institute for Educational Management, Harvard University, and the Center for Dispute Resolution at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio. Capital is also an ELCA institution.
The new St. Olaf president previously taught English at St. Olaf and at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, before serving in administrative capacities at Florida Atlantic University and Texas A&M University. Anderson was also vice president for academic affairs, a professor of English, and a dean at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. Luther is an ELCA college.
"The prospect of it is really quite humbling," said Anderson. "Your responsibility – and one that you share with others – is to pass on the college to the next generation in better condition than you found it.
"I take that very seriously," he added. "I am committed to conducting myself and leading the college with the welfare of the students, the faculty and staff foremost in our minds."
Anderson will assume his duties in July.
