The Board of Trustees at Southern Vermont College (SVC) has announced the selection of David Rees Evans, PhD, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty at Buena Vista University, to serve as the ninth president of SVC. Evans succeeds President Karen Gross, who is leaving the College in mid-December to work on education reform in Washington, DC. Gross will work with President-elect Evans over the next month to ensure a smooth transition.SVC trustee and chair of the Presidential Search Committee Ira Wagner ’83, said that Evans was selected from a promising field of more than one hundred candidates who applied for the position over the past five months. “Dr. Evans embodied the unique and well-rounded skill set for the position, as well as the personal qualities, experience and passion for education aligned with SVC’s mission,” Wagner said. SVC Board Chair Deborah Wiley thanked the school community and trustees for a search well done. “The College is at an exciting juncture of stability and growth,” Wiley said. “With the community’s valued feedback, we’ve found an inspirational leader in David Evans to continue the trajectory.”
Evans has been Vice President at Buena Vista in Iowa since 2008. Previously, he was Dean of the Petree College of Arts and Sciences at Oklahoma City University and before that Chair of the Department of English, Speech and Journalism at Georgia College & State University. A native of Los Angeles, he holds a B.A. from Pomona College and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Virginia, all in English. He has published on various aspects of Early Modern English literature and culture, particularly travel literature and aristocratic and gentile identity. More recently, he has spoken nationally and internationally and written extensively on professional issues including faculty hiring, careers, training for administrators, and the future of small private colleges in “The Chronicle of Higher Education”and other publications. He is also a regular presenter and facilitator for programs sponsored by the Council of Independent Colleges.
Evans, who will officially start at the College on January 1, is looking forward to his new leadership position. “I am excited and honored to be part of this community,” he said. “I am deeply impressed by the commitment and enthusiasm of the students, faculty and staff. I very much value the College’s mission of empowering students, both personally and professionally, and I look forward to working with everyone at SVC to advance the College and build on the great progress of the past years.”
Evans started his academic career at Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, Iowa, where he was on the English faculty. As an administrator, he has considerable experience in academic program development, study abroad, and collaboration between academic and student affairs. He also has extensive teaching experience in various areas of British literature. Evans is married to Ursula McCarty, an artist who has shown her work nationally and internationally and has taught a wide range of studio art, art history, women’s studies, and interdisciplinary courses at several universities and colleges. Evans and McCarty are passionate collectors of New Mexican Hispanic devotional art, Turkish textiles and ceramics, other traditional and folk art forms, as well as stray dogs and cats.
Founded in 1926,Southern Vermont Collegeoffers a career-enhancing liberal arts education with 15 academic degree programs for approximately 500 students. SVC recognizes the importance of educating students for the workplace of the twenty-first century and as successful leaders in their communities. SVC’s athletic teams are part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III and the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC). The College is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges and has been designated by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching as a Community-Engagement Classification institution. For more information about SVC, visit the Web site:www.svc.edu.