Patton '76 Inaugurated as Middlebury President
Laurie L. Patton, a Shore alumna of the Class of 1976, was inaugurated October 11 as the 17th president of Middlebury College. More than 1,000 people gathered to celebrate Patton and listen to her inaugural address on the College's Vermont campus.
A Danvers native, Patton is a graduate of Choate Rosemary Hall, Harvard College, and the University of Chicago. She began her career in 1991 at Bard College, and subsequently moved to Emory University, where she became Charles Howard Candler Professor of Religion and the Inaugural Director of Emory’s Center for Faculty Development. She later held the position of Durden Professor of Religion at Duke University, and had served as Dean of Arts & Sciences at Duke since 2011.
In her inaugural address, Patton noted Middlebury's “determined, engaged optimism” and presented her vision for the future of the 215-year-old institution. Describing Middlebury as distinct from other liberal arts colleges, Patton underscored its heritage of open mindedness, its aspirations, its schools and programs, its exuberance, and “our love and care for languages and writing and sciences and society and arts and athletics all at the same time.”
She placed special emphasis on what she called “our capacity to argue and be resilient in those arguments.”
“I hope we are all thinking about that, because I believe that Middlebury's collective genius of warmth, optimism, rigor, and compassion can make us some of the best arguers in higher education – arguers who can think together with deeper respect, stronger resilience, and greater wisdom.”
Patton’s inaugural address drew a standing ovation from guests, including renowned writers, university presidents, faculty members, and politicians.
Full coverage of Patton’s inauguration can be found on the Middlebury College website.
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Patton delivers her inaugural address. Photo by by Brett Simison, courtesy of Middlebury.
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