Wheaton names new president: Miami University provost to be first African American to hold post

Wheaton's Board of Trustees has appointed Ronald Crutcher, provost of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, as the seventh president of Wheaton College. He is a nationally known leader in higher education, a dedicated educator, a distinguished music scholar and a gifted cellist.

In taking Wheaton's highest post, Dr. Crutcher becomes the first African American to lead the national liberal arts college. It will be the latest pioneering role for the cellist who has achieved national recognition and prominence in the classical chamber music field, an area in which African Americans have been largely absent.

''From the beginning of this search process we have sought a leader of vision, intellectual vitality and exceptional energy to serve as Wheaton's seventh president,'' said Patricia A. King '63, chair of the Board of Trustees. ''In Dr. Crutcher, we have found that person. The Board of Trustees is unanimously agreed that his remarkable leadership experience and his accomplishments will allow him to capitalize on the college's extraordinary momentum to sustain and reinforce Wheaton's distinctive character and fulfill its vision and potential.'' Dr. Crutcher's appointment as president begins July 15, 2004.

Wheaton is a highly selective liberal arts college that draws students from across the country and around the world. Its 1,550 students represent 48 states and more than 60 countries. In the past decade, Wheaton students have won 36 prestigious academic awards, including the Rhodes, Watson, British Marshall, Goldwater, Beinecke, four Trumans, 20 Fulbrights, five Rotary Ambassadorial scholarships, two Udalls, two James Madison Fellowships and an American Council for International Education scholarship.

During his five years as provost at Miami University, Dr. Crutcher coordinated the institution's ''First in 2009'' strategic vision process and established the Center for American and World Cultures. Prior to his work at Miami, he served as director of the School of Music at the University of Texas at Austin. Earlier he was vice president of Academic Affairs at the Cleveland Institute of Music, associate vice chancellor for Academic Affairs at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and head of the string program at Wittenberg University. He has taught courses in African-American music, chamber music and music history, among others.

Beyond his leadership responsibilities at Miami, Dr. Crutcher is presently the vice chair of the Association of American Colleges and Universities. He also has served as a board member to numerous arts and educational organizations, including the Fulbright Association and the Cincinnati Opera Association.

When he accepted the presidency at Wheaton, Dr. Crutcher said, ''I have had the pleasure of getting to know the Wheaton community fairly well in the past few months and I look forward to learning much more as I work with and listen to faculty, staff, students, board members, alumnae/i, and friends. The college's dedication to transforming the lives of students to prepare them to live, work and lead in a diverse, global society is enormously exciting. I am particularly drawn to the collaborative nature of the community and the commitment to the feminist perspective and equality deeply rooted in Wheaton's culture.

''I am deeply honored to have been selected by the Board of Trustees to lead Wheaton in this next phase of its development,'' said Dr. Crutcher. ''The college has made tremendous progress over the past twelve years with the inspirational and visionary leadership of President Marshall, and I look forward to the challenges of continuing the momentum and to serving as one of its primary advocates. My family and I are pleased to become a part of the Wheaton community.''

A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Miami University, Dr. Crutcher pursued graduate studies at Yale University as a Woodrow Wilson and Ford Foundation Fellow. In 1979, he was the first cellist to receive the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Yale. The recipient of a Fulbright Award, Dr. Crutcher studied in Germany. He made his Carnegie Hall debut in March 1985 and currently performs in this country and Europe with the Klemperer Trio. His publications include journal articles on valuing cultural diversity in the arts, chamber music and Black classical music.