Higdon starts at CC July 1

Leo Higdon, Jr., named the 10th president of Connecticut College, and his wife, Ann.

It’s a small college with a longstanding honor code. Nearly all the students live on campus. There are no fraternities or sororities.

Those are some of the things, Leo I. Higdon, Jr., told The Hartford Courant, that drew him to Connecticut College. “I really think that [CC] represents the true epitome of a liberal arts learning community,” he said. Higdon, known as Lee, said the College’s interdisciplinary and international programs “are the envy of all higher education institutions.”

The interview was one of several Higdon gave last week after being named the CC’s 10th president. Thirty newspapers and television stations from coast to coast carried news of his appointment.

Higdon currently is president of the College of Charleston. From 1997-2001 he was president of Babson College in Wellesley, Mass., and from 1993-97 he was dean of the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia.

After serving as a Peace Corps volunteer with his wife, Ann, in Malawi, Africa, for two years, Higdon earned his M.B.A. from the University of Chicago in 1972. He had a 21-year career in global investment banking, leaving Salomon Brothers Inc. in 1993 as a vice chair.

Higdon told the Post and Courier in Charleston that the decision to leave was a tough one. He said he hadn’t taken any calls about other positions since arriving in Charleston.

“It took an opportunity like this to leave Charleston,” he said in The Courant. Higdon added, “I believe fundamentally that liberal arts are the most practical form of education today.”

Marc Forster, a CC history professor and member of the Presidential Search Committee, told The Courant that Higdon’s experience set him apart from other candidates for the presidency. “He’s very personable and has the ability to engage people,” Forster said. “Although he comes out of a business background, we were very impressed with his commitment to liberal arts education.”

More about Lee Higdon

CC’s announcement.

The College of Charleston.

Higdon’s web site at the College of Charleston.

Excerpts from his writings.