Willamette University Announces New President

SALEM, Ore., May 14, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Willamette University Board of Trustees today announced Stephen E. Thorsett as the university's 23rd president, effective July 1, 2011.

"Stephen Thorsett brings an exceptional combination of visionary leadership, teaching experience and scholarly achievement to Willamette," said Board of Trustees Chair Steven E. Wynne. "Steve's dedication to a diverse liberal arts education and his passion for the highest academic standards will continue to advance Willamette as one of the nation's top tier liberal arts universities. He understands and values Willamette University, Salem and the Pacific Northwest in distinctive and deeply personal ways," said Wynne.

Thorsett, age 46, currently serves as dean of Physical and Biological Sciences and professor of astronomy and astrophysics at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

As dean and faculty leader at UC Santa Cruz, Thorsett built strong undergraduate programs within and across disciplines, developing innovative lab and field experiences and local internships. He prioritized faculty diversity, increasing the number of women science faculty. During exceptionally difficult financial times, Thorsett was able to hire more than 40 new faculty and raise about $50 million in private capital to support academic programs.

As a physicist, Thorsett has authored or co-authored more than 100 scientific publications, focusing on the late stages of stellar evolution. Among his many accomplishments, Thorsett co-discovered the oldest known planet, dubbed "the Methuselah planet," in the constellation Scorpius.

"Stephen Thorsett is a superb choice as the next leader of Willamette University," said Joseph Taylor, former dean of the faculty at Princeton University and Thorsett's faculty advisor as a student at Princeton. "A distinguished scholar with a strong record in academic administration, he has demonstrated a deep commitment to the highest standards of scholarship and teaching."

Prior to his current role at UC Santa Cruz, Thorsett was an assistant professor of physics at Princeton and a research fellow at Caltech. He earned his bachelor's in mathematics with honors at Carleton College, where he graduated summa cum laude.

Thorsett, son of Willamette University emeritus biology Professor Grant Thorsett, grew up in Salem and graduated from South Salem High School. As a teenager, he worked summers and weekends at Willamette washing dishes.

"I am thrilled to have been selected as Willamette University's next president. Willamette was my first introduction to the power of a liberal arts education in a small community setting," said Thorsett. "Willamette is special to me for the quality of its teaching and learning, for its mix of a strong liberal arts core with outstanding professional graduate programs, and as a place with which I have a strong personal history and affinity.  

"One of the important parts of what binds Willamette together is a shared commitment to a student-focused education and the service mission embodied in the motto, 'Not unto ourselves alone are we born.' I was moved as I listened to people from across the university share their passion for Willamette's mission," said Thorsett.

Willamette University is a private university that educates 2,600 students in a residential undergraduate liberal arts college and professional graduate schools of law, management and education. Adjacent to the Oregon Capitol, Willamette is nationally recognized for teaching and scholarly work in a community that models diversity, sustainability and service to others, values that reflect the university motto, "Not unto ourselves alone are we born."

Related links:

Presidential announcement website  

CV

Biography

Views on Thorsett's leadership

Photography

Video

About the university

Farewell to President Pelton

SOURCE Willamette University