Colby-Sawyer College will celebrate the beginning of a new era of leadership with the investiture of Susan D. Stuebner, Ed.D., as its ninth president on Friday, Oct. 14, at 3 p.m. on the Quad. The event falls on the first day of Homecoming and will be followed by a reception in the Marian Graves Mugar Art Gallery. The investiture is free and open to the public.

President Stuebner assumed the duties of the presidency on July 1 after the Colby-Sawyer College Board of Trustees voted unanimously to approve her appointment. The investiture formally bestows upon her the authority of the office. She succeeds President Thomas C. Galligan Jr, who served ten years.

Chair of the Colby-Sawyer Board of Trustees Peter F. Volanakis will preside over the investiture, which will include his remarks and those of representatives of the student body, faculty and staff, alumni and the Town of New London. President Stuebner will offer her thoughts on Colby-Sawyer’s exciting future as well.

“Sue is absolutely the right person at the right time for Colby-Sawyer,” said Chair Volanakis. “She is deeply experienced operationally in managing the increasing financial challenges facing smaller, liberal arts-oriented institutions, has been a thought leader on liberal arts education generally and is totally committed to taking Colby-Sawyer to the next level.”

“I am delighted that holding the investiture during Homecoming will allow the focus of this event to be a celebration of Colby-Sawyer’s community,” said President Stuebner. “I have been humbled by the warm welcome from all constituents, and I look forward to sharing this special day with students, trustees, alumni, faculty, staff and area residents. It is an extraordinary privilege to be the ninth president of this special institution, and I am excited to honor our unique history while also mapping a path forward that builds on our foundation.”

President Stuebner brings to Colby-Sawyer more than two decades of experience in higher education; most recently she was the executive vice president and chief operating officer at Allegheny College in Meadville, Penn. Before joining Allegheny in 2013, President Stuebner spent a decade at Lycoming College in a variety of senior office roles. Prior to Lycoming, she served as an academic counselor at Dartmouth College, a freshman proctor and director of freshman intramurals at Harvard College, and special assistant to the president at Wheelock College. President Stuebner also held the position of teaching fellow for a number of courses at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She began her career at Albright College, where she held concurrent roles as head women’s basketball coach, admissions counselor and special assistant to the academic dean.

President Stuebner has been involved at the national, regional and local levels. She completed three-year terms on the NCAA Division III Financial Aid Committee and the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) Small Institutions Council and was elected to a term on the Dartmouth College Alumni Council (2009-2012). President Stuebner participated as a member of eight visiting teams for the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, and she was an invited member of the 2012 Middle States Periodic Review Report Working Committee. President Stuebner has delivered presentations at the annual meetings for NACUBO, Second Nature, and the Society of College and University Planners (SCUP). Her professional and research interests include leadership and decision-making at private liberal arts institutions.

President Stuebner earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Dartmouth College, where she was a member of the senior leadership society Casque and Gauntlet and the varsity women’s basketball team. She also holds an Ed.M. and an Ed.D. from Harvard University in administration, planning and social policy with a concentration in higher education.