Current and Former Dickinson College Presidents to Discuss Leadership
John E. Jones III '77, P'11 and William G. Durden '71
Presidential Dialogues: Lessons in Leadership
by Logan Cort '22
Dickinson College interim President John E. Jones III '77, P'11, and President Emeritus William G. Durden '71 will share personal stories about leadership in a special public discussion. “Presidential Dialogues: Lessons in Leadership” will take place Wednesday, Nov. 17, at 7 p.m. at the Anita Tuvin Schlechter (ATS) Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public. Masks are required. It will also be available via livestream.
Jones and Durden will discuss how the leadership of college presidents can positively impact communities. Through personal stories and anecdotes, the speakers will explore what good leadership looks like and how it can enact positive change. Jones will interview Durden on his experiences at Dickinson as a student and administrator to explore how Dickinson has shaped his life.
Jones began his term as interim president in July. He previously served as chair of Dickinson’s Board of Trustees before retiring from his post as chief judge of the U.S. Middle District Court of Pennsylvania to lead his alma mater. He was appointed to the federal bench by President George W. Bush in 2002. His most notable cases included Kitzmiller v. Dover School District, which held that teaching intelligent design in school is unconstitutional, and Whitewood v. Wolf, which struck down as unconstitutional Pennsylvania’s ban on same-sex marriage. In 2006, Jones was named one of the TIME 100 most influential people in the world.
Durden served as Dickinson’s president from 1999 to 2013. He taught both German and education at Dickinson and now serves as president of the International University Alliance, an association of top-tier U.S. research universities committed to international education. Previously, Durden was founding executive director of the Center for Talented Youth, based at Johns Hopkins University. He also served on numerous educational committees, including as a consultant to the U.S. State Department, where he was a “private tutor” to then British Prime Minister Tony Blair on the topic of talent development and global competitiveness. In 2019 he was appointed as ambassador to Maryland for the University of Freiburg, Germany.
The event is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by the Office of the President. It is also part of the Clarke Forum’s Leadership in an Age of Uncertainty Series.
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Published November 2, 2021