Alison R. Byerly was named Lafayette’s 17th president on Jan. 16 and will take office July 1, succeeding Daniel H. Weiss. A nationally recognized scholar, she is one of the nation’s most prominent thought leaders on the role of technology in higher education today. She has extensive administrative experience at one of America’s most prominent and highly regarded liberal arts colleges with a long and deep involvement in and commitment to an interdisciplinary and global approach to higher education.
Byerly has served in leadership positions at Middlebury College for 13 years, most recently as provost and executive vice president. A member of the Middlebury faculty since 1989, she holds an interdisciplinary appointment as College Professor and has been a visiting scholar at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, and Oxford University.
A welcoming event, featuring remarks by Byerly; Weiss; Edward W. Ahart ’69, chair of the Board of Trustees; and Alan R. Griffith ’64, chair of the Presidential Search Committee, was held in Pfenning Alumni Center Jan. 16 and streamed live on the web, followed by a reception in the Williams Center for the Arts. Meet-and-greets with students, faculty, and staff were held Jan. 30 and 31, and plans are being made for opportunities for alumni to meet the president-elect on campus and in other locations after she takes office.
For much more information on Alison Byerly and her introduction to the College community, visit www.lafayette.edu/presidential-search/.