James Isbell Armstrong

James Isbell Armstrong is President Emeritus of Middlebury College. Armstrong was appointed as Middlebury's 12th president in 1963 after serving as a member of the Classics faculty at Princeton University. He served until 1975, guiding the college through the political upheaval of the 1960s.

Armstrong is credited with laying the groundwork for Middlebury's emergence as a nationally renowned institution. Although the college first admitted women in 1883, it was not until Armstrong became president that they were truly integrated.

During Armstrong's tenure, the college constructed several controversial buildings. These include the Christian A. Johnson Memorial Art Building, the Science Center (now demolished), and what has become known as Freeman International Center; all departed from the traditional Georgian style and gray stone of campus buildings and adopted Brutalist architectural forms and exposed concrete.