New College President Selected

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As a step towards expanding the College, the nomination committee has selected Dr. Christopher Clark as the first President of Bryn Athyn College. Dr. Clark will assume leadership of the College this summer and will work towards the development and growth of the already expanding institution.

Dr. Clark attended Villanova University and earned a BA in Social Studies. While there he met Tryn Grubb, who he later married. Tryn grew up in Bryn Athyn where she was an active member of the New Church.

After receiving his BA degree, Dr. Clark spent nine and a half years as a submarine officer based out of Charleston, South Carolina and New London Connecticut. Between submarines the Navy sent him to teach a course in celestial navigation at Stanford University. He received his master's degree and later a PhD in Educational Psychology from Stanford.

As a professor of education at Michigan State University for 24 years, Dr. Clark helped launch the innovative Institute for Research in Teaching. In 1999 Dr. Clark was recruited to direct the new School of Education at the University of Delaware. Then, in 2006 he "retired" to Arizona, but very quickly became a visiting scholar at Arizona State University. His position there evolved into the development and direction of a new doctoral program in Leadership and Innovation. Part of the philosophy of the program, which Dr. Clark will bring to Bryn Athyn College, is that for graduates to be successful their programs should reflect real-world experiences as much as possible. This means building meaningful teamwork between faculty and students, a partnership that Bryn Athyn College already benefits a great deal from.

Dr. Clark has supported Bryn Athyn College for years as a member of the College Administration Reorganization Committee, the Board Tenure Committee, the Education Committee, and the Strategic Planning Committee. He has also provided extensive pro bono consultation to the College's Director of Teacher Education. At the invitation of Dean Charles Lindsay, Dr. Clark offered a faculty development workshop at the College in 2005.

Dr. Clark says: "I am filled with enthusiasm about the historic changes already underway at Bryn Athyn College" and looks forward to playing a leadership role "in the process of promoting change, growth and development of the College and its mission."