FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
March 30, 2011

Contact: Mark Blackmon 
Director of Media Relations 
Earlham College 
765/983-1256

Earlham Announces New President

RICHMOND, Ind. - Earlham College is pleased to announce that John David Dawson has accepted 
an offer from the Board of Trustees to become the 17th President of Earlham. Board Chairman 
Deborah Hull '67 made the announcement earlier today.

David Dawson 
 
Dawson is currently a Professor of Religion and Constance and Robert MacCrate Professor in 
Social Responsibility at Haverford College in Haverford, Penna., where he has been a member of 
the faculty since 1987. 
 
In 2002, Dawson accepted an invitation to serve for five years as Haverford's Provost, a position 
that combines much of the responsibility that Earlham allocates to both its Provost and Academic 
Dean.
 
"I am extremely happy to introduce David as Earlham's new President," says Hull. "He brings with 
him a wealth of scholarship and a deep commitment to social justice issues. Throughout his 
career, David has always been a very strong faculty member and has long had a strong 
relationship with students and fellow faculty members. As someone whose personal values mirror 
those of Earlham, he is the ideal person to lead the College forward."
 
Dawson reports that he is "honored to join the Earlham community and to lead such an 
extraordinary institution. I am very excited to begin our journey together."

Dawson received a B.A. from Towson State University, an M.Div. from Duke University's Divinity 
School, and an M.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D. from Yale University. He also has been named the 
Pennsylvania Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
 
In addition to overseeing the operations of the liberal arts college and the Earlham School of 
Religion, Dawson has also been named a full professor in the Department of Religion.

Dawson and his wife Ellen have two children, a son who attends Macalester College and a 
daughter who is currently a junior in high school. Ellen Dawson will stay in Pennsylvania while their 
daughter finishes high school and will join Dawson in Richmond in 2012. Dawson begins his tenure 
at Earlham on July 1, 2011.
 
He replaces the retiring Douglas C. Bennett, who is has served as Earlham's President since 1997.
-EC-


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Earlham College, an independent, residential college, aspires to provide the highest quality undergraduate education in the 
liberal arts, including the sciences, shaped by the distinctive perspectives of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). 
Earlham emphasizes the pursuit of truth, lack of coercion, respect for others, openness to new truth, integrity and application 
of what is known to improving our world.