Skidmore College has a new president. The Saratoga Springs-based liberal arts college announced on December 18 that Mark C. Connor, an English professor and provost at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, VA, would become Skidmore’s 8th president. Starting on July 1, 2020, Connor will take over for Philip Glotzbach, who’s served as the college’s president since 2003 and who announced he would be stepping down back in February.
“I have a deep respect for what Skidmore has achieved as a model of an excellent liberal arts education,” says Connor, who’s been teaching at Washington and Lee University for more than two decades. “[Skidmore] has positioned itself in an enviable place of growth and strength. It’s become more diverse. It’s increased its endowment. It’s become more selective. My role coming in is to put myself in service of Skidmore’s admirable mission of preparing students for lifelong learning and fulfillment.”
Born and raised in Tacoma, WA, Connor has a widely respected background in academia, especially in the realm of African-American and Irish literature, even recently co-editing a thousand-page publication, The Selected Letters of Ralph Ellison. Connor also has a track record that emphasizes diversity and inclusion: He co-founded Washington and Lee’s African American Studies program in 2007, serving as that program’s director until 2012. He also helped create an immersive, STEM summer program for first-year, underrepresented students at the private liberal arts university.
Connor says he’s excited to start his new position as president at Skidmore next summer. “I can’t say enough about what [Glotzbach] and the college have been able to accomplish,” he says. “I’m eager to sit down with the Skidmore community, roll up our sleeves and continue Skidmore’s tradition of academic excellence, collaboration and creativity.”
