Colorado College Bulletin

203 Armstrong Hall
In Search of a President

Kathryn Mohrman, Colorado College’s president since 1993, has announced that she will step down from that position in summer 2002.

Bill Ward, chair of the college’s Board of Trustees, noted that the trustees accepted Mohrman’s decision with regret during their regular fall meeting.

"President Mohrman’s tenure, distinguished with success, has exceeded by several years the experience of most liberal arts and sciences colleges," Ward said. "Faced with challenges related to a rapidly changing environment for higher education, Kathryn built a community of trustees, faculty, administration, students, alumni and friends who together could move the college forward. The success of this strategy can be seen across the board."

While Mohrman has no plans at present for after her departure from CC, she doesn’t expect her next position will be as a college president. "I have too much loyalty and affection for CC to switch campuses," Mohrman said in making her announcement. "I intend to explore a number of options, from Washington to China to Colorado. In many ways I feel like a new CC graduate looking at a wealth of opportunities in which to exercise my education and experience."

Before she became the 11th president of Colorado College in July 1993, Mohrman came to campus to teach a political science course, “Topics in Politics: Higher Education and Public Policy.”  She said she chose this prelude to her presidency both to find out what it’s like to teach on the Block Plan and to demonstrate her commitment to the central mission of the college -- teaching, learning and intellectual discovery.

Mohrman acquired her high regard for the liberal arts and sciences early in life. She grew up on the campus of Knox College, and her father, the late Elmer Jagow, went on to become president of the innovative Hiram College for nearly two decades. They had the distinction of being among the first father-daughter pairs to serve as college presidents.

Mohrman graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Grinnell College in 1967, with a degree in history. She earned a master’s degree in American history from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1969, and a doctorate in public policy from George Washington University in 1982.

A member of the prestigious Colorado Forum, Mohrman also has been a board member of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities.  She is a past chair of the Rhodes Scholar selection committee for Colorado and of the Annapolis Group, a coalition of 100 top national liberal arts colleges.  She is a member of the ACE Commission on Minorities in Higher Education and of the Board of Directors of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, in addition to serving on the advisory board for the Luce Fund for Asian Studies.

"Colorado College is stronger than it has ever been, and thus I will leave in the summer of 2002 with the confidence that CC will thrive in the years ahead," she said.

A search for the college's next president is underway now.  Alumni are welcome to submit comments.  Click here to learn how.

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