Press Release

Press Release

New York, NY (February 24, 2009) - Richard Morrill, Chancellor of the University of Richmond, has been named to succeed W. Robert Connor as President of the Teagle Foundation beginning in January 2010. The Teagle Foundation is a New York-based foundation whose grant making is focused on improving student engagement and learning in liberal education.

Pat McPherson, the Chair of the Search Committee that selected Dr. Morrill said "Rich Morrill's long engagement in leadership positions in higher education and his 20-year service on the Teagle Foundation's Board was seen by the Committee to be a perfect match with the needs of the Foundation at this time. He will be in an excellent position to continue some of the fine work begun under Bob Connor's leadership while over time developing imaginative new initiatives appropriate to the Foundation's mission and the changing needs of colleges and universities."

Walter C. Teagle III, Vice Chair of Teagle's Board of Directors, remarked that "Rich Morrill and I have served together for twenty years as Board members of the Teagle Foundation. I feel that the Foundation is fortunate to have an individual with both the academic and leadership skills to take on this role when Bob Connor retires. Rich is someone we can all count on to assure that the integrity and continuity of our mission, and our grant making goals, are preserved and enhanced."

Dr. Morrill, 69, has served as President of Centre College in Kentucky, Salem College in North Carolina and, from 1988 to 1998 as President of the University of Richmond. He received his A.B. in History from Brown University, graduating magna cum laude in 1961, his B.D. in Religious Thought from Yale University in 1964, and his Ph.D. in Religion from Duke University in 1968 where he was a James B. Duke Fellow. He has received honorary degrees from four institutions, including the École des Haute Études Internationales in Paris, France, and he is a member of the Order of Academic Palms and the Order of National Merit of the French Republic. He studied in France as an undergraduate, principally at L'Institut d'Études Politiques and is fluent in French. In 2008, the College Commission of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools awarded him its highest honor, the Rogers Distinguished Leadership Award. Dr. Morrill has written widely on issues of values and ethics in higher education, has published several articles and made numerous presentations on strategic planning and leadership for colleges and universities. One of his special interests is the relationship between undergraduate education and civic and professional responsibilities. He is the author of Teaching Values in College (1980) and Strategic Leadership in Academic Affairs: Clarifying the Board's Responsibilities (April 2002). He has recently published Strategic Leadership: Using Strategy as a Process and Discipline of Leadership in Colleges and Universities.

In accepting the position Dr. Morrill said, "I take great pride in having served on the Teagle board during the successful presidencies of Dick Kimball and Bob Connor. Bob has recently set us on an exciting course of focusing on student learning in liberal education and I look to developing a strategy to bring this work to fruition and to exploring new initiatives." (See Dr. Morrill's comments and biography on the Teagle Foundation website)

For more information about the Teagle Foundation, please visit their website at www.teagle.org

Contact information:

Teagle Contact:
Donna Heiland
212-373-1972