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President Richard H. Dorman to Complete Tenure at Westminster College At Conclusion of 2015-16 Academic Year

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Posted on Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Dr. Richard H. Dorman, the 14th President of Westminster College, has announced that he will be completing his tenure at Westminster at the conclusion of the coming 2015-16 academic year when his current contract expires.

Dr. Dorman has successfully served eight years as Westminster’s president. He and his wife, Beverly, will be relocating back to their home in Columbus, Ohio to be closer to family and grandchildren where Dorman will pursue his writing and research interests on higher education.

“I have been very fortunate to serve higher education in a variety of successful capacities in my nearly forty years in the profession, culminating in my service to Westminster as president.   I will look forward to having the time now to focus on sharing those experiences with others in a variety of ways at a time of enormous change for colleges and universities.”

Over the past eight years, Dr. Dorman has helped Westminster navigate those changes through the implementation of a strategic plan called “Advantage: Westminster”, which won a bronze medal from the Higher Education Marketing Report in the nation’s largest educational advertising awards competition.

During the period covered by the strategic plan, Westminster College:

  • Completed the Ever Higher campaign, the largest comprehensive campaign in the history of the College, raising over $52 million in gifts and pledges.
  • Completed nearly $10 million in capital improvements, including the renovation of Patterson Hall, the College’s largest classroom building; completion of the Berlin Village Townhouse complex; renovation of the College’s dining facilities, and the creation of new studio and classroom space for its Fine Arts program.
  • Developed a new web site and brand image, “More Than You Imagine,” which won multiple national awards.     
  • Was named by Forbes.com “The Best College in America for Women Entering the S.T.E.M. Disciplines.”
  • Was named by greatvaluecolleges.net as among the Top 25 Best Values of Private Colleges in the Northeast.
  • Was recently named by Smart Asset, Inc. the “#1 Best Value of All Colleges and Universities in Pennsylvania.”

In addition to his role as president, Dorman served as president of the national Association of Presbyterian Colleges and Universities (APCU); pre

sident of Pennsylvania Campus Compact; president of the Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce; and served on the boards of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Pennsylvania (AICUP), Jameson Hospital and Shenango Presbyterian Senior Care.  He continues to serve on the faculty of the Academic Leadership Academy at Penn State University each summer.

In 2013, Dorman co-authored the best-selling higher education management book “Leadership and Governance in Higher Education” (Stylus Publishing) along with Robert Hendrickson, Jason Lane and James T. Harris.

“We thank President Dorman for his leadership at Westminster College,’ said Board Chair Thomas A. Tupitza.  “The work that he and his senior management team have accomplished has positioned the College well as competition for students intensifies.  His continued contributions to the advancement of Westminster’s mission will be invaluable as the Board begins its search for the College’s 15th president.”

Before coming to Westminster College, Dorman served as vice president for institutional advancement at Otterbein University and oversaw the most successful fundraising in Otterbein’s history. He earned an undergraduate degree in music education from Susquehanna University, a master’s in counseling/college student personnel services and his doctorate in higher education administration from The Pennsylvania State University.