Steven L. Solnick, Ph.D., New Delhi Representative for the Ford Foundation since 2008, has been named by the Warren Wilson College Board of Trustees as the college’s seventh president, effective in July 2012. He will succeed Sandy Pfeiffer, who is retiring in June after six years as president.

“The entire board is delighted that Dr. Steven Solnick has accepted our offer to serve as the college’s seventh president,” said Alice Buhl, search committee chair and Board of Trustees vice chair.

“Steve embodies the values that are important to Warren Wilson College. He has learned and taught in rigorous and renowned academic settings. He has extensive leadership experience in diverse international settings. He built community wherever he has served in a leadership role. He has a deep understanding of and commitment to environmental responsibility, as well as to social and economic justice.

“We know that Steve will dedicate his experience-tested skills and values to advancing the well-being of the entire WWC community.”

Solnick, 50, is poised to assume the presidency of a small college that has a distinct niche in American higher education. He said, “I am honored and excited by the opportunity to lead Warren Wilson, a college that believes, as I do, that higher education should offer not an escape from the ‘real world’ but a set of tools for thriving in it. Work, service and scholarship are all essential elements of a fully formed world view, and at Warren Wilson these are all integral parts of the learning experience.

“With the liberal arts model drawing increasing scrutiny, Warren Wilson demonstrates how classroom instruction can blend with practical work and public service in a community of shared values that is at once intimate and globally connected.”

(Image provided by Warren Wilson College.)

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