Dr. Richard Ekman, president of the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC), will serve as speaker for the 106th Commencement at Davis & Elkins College. The ceremony is planned for 10 a.m. Saturday, May 16 at Claude King Davis Memorial Plaza.
“We are honored that President Ekman has agreed to serve as our Commencement speaker,” says Davis & Elkins College President Michael P. Mihalyo Jr. “His work on behalf of private colleges nationwide has been invaluable for member institutions and the benefits have been immeasurable. D&E has enjoyed the opportunity to participate in a number of CIC programs including the Degree Qualifications Profile initiative and the Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education. Our College has been strengthened significantly through this participation and for that we are most grateful.”
Ekman is a much sought after authority on the future of private higher education and has been quoted in stories by National Public Radio, The New York Times, U.S. News & World Report, Chicago Tribune and leading higher education journals. Since 2000, he has served as president of CIC, an association of 750 nonprofit independent colleges and universities and higher education organizations. During his tenure, CIC has grown in membership, added many programs and services, and increased participation in its major programs. Among its services is the national Campaign for the Liberal Arts, a multi-pronged initiative to promote the liberal arts and the effectiveness of independent higher education, to increase the likelihood that the next generation of Americans will be prepared for the top-priority jobs in the United States and for leadership in a democratic society.
Prior to working for CIC, Ekman served as vice president for programs of Atlantic Philanthropies and, from 1991 to 1999, as secretary and senior program officer of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. From 1982 until 1991, he was at the National Endowment for the Humanities, successively as director of the Division of Education Programs and the Division of Research Programs.
Ekman’s earlier experience includes service as vice president and dean of Hiram College in Hiram, Ohio, where he was also a tenured member of the history faculty. He also served as assistant to the provost at the University of Massachusetts in Boston.
Ekman currently serves as a member of many boards, including those that provide guidance to the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute, Harvard University’s Library and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, American Academic Leadership Institute, American Council on Education, and the Dictionary of American Regional English. He has been awarded honorary degrees by Alvernia, Otterbein and Marywood universities, and Alderson-Broaddus, Bethany, Georgetown, Hastings and Ursinus colleges, and is a recipient of the W.E.B. DuBois Medal of Harvard University. He is co-author, with Richard E. Quandt, of “Technology and Scholarly Communication” (University of California Press, 1999). His essays have appeared in the Chronicle of Higher Education, University Business, Inside Higher Ed and Washington Post.
Ekman earned his Bachelor of Arts in history and Ph.D in the history of American civilization from Harvard University.
The Council of Independent Colleges has worked since 1956 to support college and university leadership, advance institutional excellence, and enhance public understanding of private higher education’s contributions to society. CIC is the major national organization that focuses on providing services to leaders of independent colleges and universities as well as conferences, seminars and other programs that help institutions improve educational quality, administrative and financial performance, and institutional visibility. CIC conducts the largest annual conference of college and university presidents. CIC also provides support to state fundraising associations that organize programs and generate contributions for private colleges and universities. The Council is headquartered at One Dupont Circle in Washington, D.C. For more information, visit www.cic.edu.
Related to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Davis & Elkins College is located in Elkins, 2 hours east of Charleston, 3 hours south of Pittsburgh and 4 hours west of Washington, D.C. For more information, please visit the College website at www.dewv.edu or call 304-637-1243.
