President Vagt Announces His Plans to Retire
President Robert Vagt '69 pictured recently at the annual Athletics Award Banquet.
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6/8/2006
Contact: Bill Giduz 704/894-2244 or bigiduz@davidson.edu
To read President Vagt's announcement letter to the Board of Trustees, click here.
Davidson’s sixteenth president, Robert F. Vagt, has announced his intention to step down from the position he has occupied since 1997. Vagt asked the executive committee of the Board of Trustees to use the next academic year to search for his successor, stating in a letter to the board, “A part of my responsibility is to recognize when a change in leadership is best for the college.”
President Vagt worked with the college family to complete last summer a seven-year $272 million “Let Learning Be Cherished” fundraising campaign. He said the timetable for his departure will give the next chief executive a similar opportunity to chart a course for the 169-year-old liberal arts college. “It should give my successor the time needed for strategic planning with the faculty, staff, and trustees before shaping his or her own vision for Davidson’s future,” he said.
John McCartney, chair of Davidson’s Board of Trustees, said Vagt has been an inspiring and effective leader. “He’ll be leaving the college in a stronger position than it was when he began his presidency,” said McCartney, the Chicago-based chair of Westcon Group Inc. “We’ve just concluded an extremely successful campaign, have physically transformed the campus, have increased our national prominence, and have continued to attract outstanding students from all around the country and world.”
McCartney credited President Vagt for his own engagement with the college. “Bobby’s vision, relentless energy, and obvious deep devotion to Davidson attracted me to get involved,” said McCartney. “Similarly, I believe he has inspired the entire Davidson community through his leadership and personal example to reemphasize its commitment to excellence in teaching, learning and service.”
President Vagt speaks with students at an annual "Fiscal Fitness" seminar he co-presents to members of the senior class to prepare them to handle their own finances after gradution.
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He has made a lasting impression as a student’s president, cultivating close relationships through an open-door policy, regular attendance at student government meetings, weekly meetings with the college newspaper, and his presence at activities ranging from athletic events to music recitals to academic presentations.
A 1969 Davidson graduate, Vagt accepted Davidson’s presidency following an energetic career that included work in prison management, social services, municipal finance, and oil and gas exploration. He was executive director of the Municipal Assistance Corporation of New York, the organization that steered New York City clear of bankruptcy in the late 1970s, and he was CEO of two international oil and gas companies.
His Davidson tenure has been marked by unprecedented campus renewal and renovation, as well as historic support from alumni, parents, and friends of the college. He led the college to fund and build the Knobloch Campus Center, Alvarez College Union, Duke Family Performance Hall, the Sloan Music Center, and the complete renovation of its academic heart, Chambers Building. The recent 60-plus percent participation level of alumni support for the Annual Fund is matched by no more than a half-dozen colleges nationwide.
Clark Ross, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty, said President Vagt has been “an unflinching supporter of the academic program.” He has secured funding for a significant number of new endowed professorships, and helped provide dozens of opportunities for undergraduate students to work closely with faculty members on publishable research projects. “Beyond that,” Ross said, “He’s been a champion of helping Davidson become a more diverse, open, and caring institution. I’m sorry to realize that his excellent leadership is now coming to an end.”
Davidson is a highly selective independent liberal arts college for 1,700 students. Since its founding by Presbyterians in 1837, the college has graduated 23 Rhodes Scholars and is consistently recognized as one of the leading liberal arts colleges in the nation.
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