RALSTON COLLEGE ANNOUNCES NEW CHANCELLOR: DR IAIN McGILCHRIST ASSUMES THE ROLE AFTER DR JORDAN PETERSON

SAVANNAH, Ga., Sept. 30, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Since the launch of Ralston's first MA cohort in 2022, the College has benefited enormously from the support, encouragement, and inspiration of our Chancellor, Dr Jordan Peterson. Dr Peterson has been an eloquent advocate for and a fearless champion of the ideals that have, for centuries, been central to university education. As a tireless defender of free thought and speech, and as a mentor to students who seek more from contemporary life, Dr Peterson was able to cut through the confusion and sound a clarion call to young minds who aspired to something more – but did not know where or how to find it.

The College will continue to model a humanities education worthy of that name, set within a scholarly community that aspires to truth, beauty, freedom, and fellowship. We are therefore delighted to announce our new Chancellor who will take up the torch: the world-renowned psychiatrist, philosopher, and literary scholar Dr Iain McGilchrist.

Ralston College has hosted Dr McGilchrist several times in recent years, including for his 2024 Sophia Lectures on Wholeness, Imagination, and the Cosmos. Over this period Ralston faculty, students, and staff have come to regard him not just as an inspirational intellect but as a colleague and friend. 

Welcoming his appointment to the role, Dr McGilchrist said:

"I am truly honoured by the invitation to take on the role of Chancellor at Ralston College, that new bright star in the firmament of academe. Universities are a cornerstone of our civilization, and I believe that their future in the West lies in the balance: nothing less than our integrity as a society depends on getting them back on course."

The President of Ralston College, Dr Stephen Blackwood, expressed his gratitude to both Dr Peterson and Dr McGilchrist:

"We are profoundly grateful for Dr Peterson's indelible and invaluable role in helping to launch the College, and for serving as its Chancellor these past three years, and we are delighted to have his long-term friendship as a continued support for our future.

"It is a great honor now to welcome our new Chancellor, Dr Iain McGilchrist. As admired within academe as he is beloved outside of it, Dr McGilchrist is a humanist of astonishing depth and breadth, a renowned scientist and physician, and a shining symbol of the harmony and wholeness his work so brilliantly illuminates. The Board, faculty, students, and staff of the College are grateful beyond measure now to have him as our Chancellor."

Read the full details at www.ralston.ac/news

About Ralston College:
The mission of Ralston College is to revive the conditions of a free and flourishing culture by providing a transformative, rigorous education in the humanities. The College recently admitted the fourth cohort to its Master of Arts in the Humanities program. This intensive one-year graduate program traces the development of Western civilization from ancient times to the present, beginning with a two-month immersive term in Greece, followed by three terms in Savannah, Georgia. Founded in 2010, Ralston College is a private, 501(c)(3) non-profit institution; the College is devoted to freedom of thought and speech and has no political or religious affiliations. In addition to its degree program, the College also hosts free, public lecture series, which have welcomed more than 3,000 guests since 2022. In addition, the College's podcasts and online lectures—also available for free—have reached many millions. Visit our website to learn more, and donate to support our mission.

SOURCE Ralston College