New College of Florida’s Gordon Michalson to Retire as President and Return to the Classroom, Effective July 1, 2012

SARASOTA, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--New College of Florida (www.ncf.edu), the honors college of the state of Florida, today announced that Dr. Gordon E. “Mike” Michalson, Jr., has decided to retire as president of the College to return to the classroom, effective July 1, 2012. Following a one-year sabbatical, he plans to rejoin the New College faculty as a professor of religion in the fall of 2013, reclaiming his vocational roots as a classroom educator and researcher.

“While I’m proud to have provided stability during the College’s transition to full independence and national recognition, my sense is that now is an excellent moment to begin the next chapter in New College’s history, as underscored by this year’s celebration of our fiftieth anniversary.”

Michalson has served as president of New College since July of 2001. At his retirement, he will have served as chief administrative officer for sixteen of the past twenty years, including five years as Dean and Warden (1992-1997), while New College was part of the University of South Florida (1975-2001). He is the longest serving president in the history of the College, which was founded in 1960.

“Clearly there comes a time when an institution benefits from fresh vision and renewed energy,” stated Michalson. “While I’m proud to have provided stability during the College’s transition to full independence and national recognition, my sense is that now is an excellent moment to begin the next chapter in New College’s history, as underscored by this year’s celebration of our fiftieth anniversary.”

Recognized as a foremost scholar on Immanuel Kant and the philosophy of religion, Michalson is the author of four books and currently has a contract pending with Cambridge University Press for a new scholarly book. He is a magna cum laude graduate of Yale, holds a master’s degree from the Claremont School of Theology and earned his doctorate “with distinction” from Princeton University.

Prior to his arrival at New College, Michalson taught at Davidson College (1975-77) and Oberlin College (1977-1992), and was an NEH Distinguished Scholar at Bucknell University (1985). He has also held visiting posts at Brown, Yale, Princeton and Linacre College, Oxford.

A national leader in the liberal arts and sciences, New College is consistently ranked among the top public liberal arts colleges in America by U.S. News & World Report, Forbes and The Princeton Review. New College attracts highly motivated, academically talented students from 40 states and 25 foreign countries.

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