M. Lee Pelton

Infobox University President
name = M. Lee Pelton


caption = Pelton in 2008
order = 22nd
university = President of Willamette University
term_start = July 1998
term_end = Present
birth_date =
birth_place =
death_date =
death_place =
predecessor = Jerry Hudson
successor =
alumnus = Wichita State University
Harvard University
residence =
profession = dean
professor
religion =
salary =
spouse =
children =
website = [http://www.willamette.edu/president/bio.htm Website]
footnotes =|

Dr. M. Lee Pelton (b. circa 1950) is the president of Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, which is the oldest university in the western United States. He is the first African-American president since the university's founding in 1842. Pelton previously was a Senior Tutor at Harvard University, and a dean at Colgate University and Dartmouth College.

Early life

Pelton grew up in Wichita, Kansas, where he graduated from Wichita North High School. Haynes, Dana. Willamette president feels at home here. "Statesman Journal", February 14 1999.] His father worked as a laborer and later as a manager for a city department while his mother was a stay at home mom. In 1974, Pelton graduated from Wichita State University. [http://www.nytimes.com/ref/college/faculty/coll_pres_peltonbio.html College: Biography of M. Lee Pelton.] "The New York Times". Retrieved December 6 2007.] There he earned a degree in English and psychology while graduating magna cum laude with a focus in 19th century British literature. Later he earned a doctorate in English and American literature from Harvard in 1984.Carter, Steve. The Monday Profile: M. Lee Pelton, Job: 22nd President of Willamette University. "The Oregonian", February 17 2003.]

Career

While working on his doctorate at Harvard, Pelton served as an instructor and teaching fellow in the same topics as his doctorate from 1980 to 1986. In 1986 he then became the Senior Tutor of one of Harvard’s undergraduate colleges, Winthrop House. From 1986 to 1988 M. Lee Pelton was the dean of students at Colgate College followed by the dean of the school from 1988 to 1991. From 1991 to 1998 he was dean of Dartmouth College. [Top Dartmouth Official Is Quitting, the Fourth in Six Months. The New York Times, January 7 1998. pg. B.7] At Dartmouth he was responsible for the largest administrative body of the school and a professor of English. In July 1998 Pelton was appointed as the 22nd president of Willamette University.

Other

Pelton also holds positions on several educational boards and committees: the American Council on Education, the Harvard University Board of Overseers, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Oregon Symphony, Oregon Health & Science University Foundation, American Association for Higher Education, National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, and National Collegiate Athletic Association among others. Pelton serves on the board of directors of Portland General Electric, the local publicly traded electric utility. [ [http://www.portfolio.com/resources/executive-profiles/88278 Dr.M. Lee Pelton, Ph. D.] Portfolio.com. Retrieved December 6 2007.] He has been married and divorced to two women. First to Kristen Wilson, whom with which he had three children, and to Carol Pelton, manager of the Oregon Cultural Trust. [ [http://www.topix.com/city/salem-or/2007/10/new-manager-chosen-at-oregon-cultural-trust New manager chosen at Oregon Cultural Trust.] topix. Retrieved January 25 2008.]

References

External links

* [http://www.blackperspective.com/pages/mag_articles/win00_leepelton.html The Black Perspective Online]
* [http://www.acenet.edu/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home&TEMPLATE=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&CONTENTID=18280 American Council on Education]