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ATLANTA —
(November 30) – Dr. John O. Schwenn, vice president for
academic affairs at Emporia State University in Emporia,
Kan., was named today as president of Dalton State
College (DSC) in Dalton, by the Board of Regents.
Schwenn is expected to assume his new post in March
2008.
Regent James R. Jolly served as chair of the Special
Regents’ Committee charged with interviewing the
presidential finalists submitted by the campus-based
Presidential Search and Advisory Committee and making a
recommendation to the chancellor and full Board of
Regents for final approval.
“Dr. Schwenn is student focused and a consensus
builder,” Jolly said. “He strongly believes in
collaboration and the power of partnerships. He has the
ability to move Dalton State forward and is sure to be
an asset to the University System of Georgia.”
“In
addition to excellent academic credentials, Dr. Schwenn has had
experience serving as the interim president of Emporia State,
and he understands the complexity of a college president’s
role,” said University System of Georgia Chief Operating Officer
Rob Watts, to whom the University System’s state college and
two-year college presidents report. “I am confident that his
strengths mesh well with Dalton State’s needs.” |
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Schwenn has been vice president for academic affairs at Emporia
State University (ESU) – an institution with approximately 6,500
students, nearly 2,000 of them in graduate programs – since
1997. In addition to the development of the university’s online
courses and degree programs, as vice president, he has focused
on increasing faculty diversity, developing and implementing
ESU’s strategic plan, increasing ESU’s exchange agreements with
other universities around the world, and representing both the
campus and the Kansas Board of Regents before the state
legislature and in the community.
In 2006, Schwenn was tapped to serve as the university’s interim
president for five months, during which time he advocated for
the repair and rehabilitation of academic buildings across the
system and was actively involved in fund raising.
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John Schwenn Named President of Dalton State
Nov. 30, 2007
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Schwenn has been affiliated with Emporia State since 1989, when
he was hired as an associate professor and associate chair of
the Division of Psychology and Special Education in the Teachers
College. Within three years, he was appointed department chair,
then, in 1994, associate vice president for academic affairs and
dean of graduate studies and research. Three years later,
Schwenn was appointed to his current position, in which he has
provided leadership to the university’s faculty in all
disciplines.
Before his arrival at Emporia State, Schwenn taught at Delta
State University in Cleveland, Miss., from 1976 to 1989.
Since 2003, Schwenn has been a member of the Board of Trustees
for Flint Hills Technical College, also located in Emporia, and
he has been active in two consortia composed of community
colleges, technical colleges and two universities all working to
improve the economic climate of the surrounding region and
state.
Throughout his career, Schwenn has published numerous papers,
book chapters and books on teaching and learning and made dozens
of state, regional and national presentations. He also secured
many grants while at Delta State and Emporia State.
Schwenn holds a Ph.D. (1976) and a master of science degree
(1973), both in rehabilitation and special education and both
earned at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He also holds a
bachelor of science degree in psychology (1971) from the
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. In 2005, the latter
institution presented him with the Maurice O. Graff
Distinguished Alumni Award.
Schwenn and his wife, Judy, have three grown children, a
granddaughter and a grandson due in mid-December.
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