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Dalrymple is 12th Paul Smiths president

Scott Dalrymple (Photo provided)

PAUL SMITHS — Paul Smith’s College has appointed its 12th president, Scott Dalrymple, after months of searching by the college’s board of trustees. Interim President Jon Strauss has led the college during a school year marked by the coronavirus pandemic, and he will step down soon.

Dalrymple’s first day on the job will be July 12, around six weeks before the start of the fall 2021 semester.

Dalrymple most recently served as president of Columbia College in Missouri. A press release from PSC listed some of his accomplishments there: a strategic plan for the college’s future, the implementation of a transparent, affordable tuition program, and securing the college’s first- and second-largest gifts in its history.

“I’m so excited to join Paul Smith’s College, a place that truly changes lives,” Dalrymple said in a press release. “I look forward to meeting everyone soon!”

Natural science professor Curt Stager said emerging from the coronavirus pandemic is an important time for the college, and it needs the right person to lead it. He also said the college is in need of a long-term president.

Like many small colleges, Paul Smith’s has been facing low enrollment. Though it got federal money through the pandemic, Stager said financial stability poses an “existential challenge” in the coming years.

But he said there is a “can-do vibe” in the campus community.

“It’s not like we’re walking around depressed or something. We’re ready to fire up and do it,” Stager said. “I think with the right person at the helm, we can do it.”

He added that he thinks Dalrymple is the right person.

Environment and society professor Joe Henderson was in the faculty interview with Dalrymple and said he was “impressed” with him. Henderson specifically said he liked that Dalrymple had experience at small colleges and believes he recognizes the challenges they face.

He said, based on Dalrymple’s answers in the interview, he’ll be a good steward of enrollment and finances.

Henderson said Dalrymple will need to get the message out that Paul Smith’s has a strong environmental program.

Stager also said natural sciences at Paul Smith’s has many more students than it used to, and he’s preparing for some of his largest biology classes ever in the fall.

Henderson also said he was heartened to hear that Dalrymple is aware of diversity issues, adding that Paul Smith’s has a very white student body, faculty and staff. Henderson pointed out that colleges in Colombia, Missouri were common spots for Black Lives Matter organization.

“The college is so fortunate to have Scott Dalrymple as the successor to Jon Strauss,” said Mark Dzwonczyk, chairman of the college’s board of trustees. “His previous innovations in higher education underscore his awareness of the new approaches small private colleges must pursue to fulfill their mission. And his personal history coming from modest means in upstate New York to college president speaks to the promise Paul Smith’s makes to each of our students: a practical, experiential education that opens new doors to career opportunities.”

Resume

Dalrymple’s educational journey started at SUNY Geneseo and was followed by three graduate degrees earned at the University of Buffalo, including a Ph.D. in English and an Master of Business Administration.

“I was a first-generation college student, like so many students at Paul Smith’s College,” Dalrymple said. “Education changed everything for me.”

Henderson said he was glad to hear a fellow first-generation college student would be the new president.

Dalrymple also has ties to the North Country. He spent much of his youth frequenting a family camp in Raquette Lake. His wife Tina is also from upstate New York and a first-generation college student. She directs an at-home care agency, and together they have five adult children, three grandchildren and, as Dalrymple joked, an “ungrateful cat.”

Prior to his time with Columbia, Dalrymple was the dean for the School of Liberal Arts at Excelsior College in Albany, an associate professor at Hartwick College in Oneonta, and a department chair and MBA director for Southwestern College in Kansas.

He has also written several books, articles and essays, some of which have appeared in The Washington Post and Los Angeles Times. Dalrymple also had science fiction stories published and added that his bucket list includes rewriting the final season of HBO’s “Game of Thrones.”

A retirement and interim president

Cathy Dove, PSC’s president of six years retired in September 2020 to move closer to family. She announced her retirement in March 2020, 10 days after the Tri-Lakes area confirmed its first case of COVID-19. At that time it was unclear how long the pandemic would last. Dove finished out the year as students left campus and started remote learning. She stayed on campus through the summer, even after Strauss took over that July to help prepare the college’s coronavirus plan. Unlike many other colleges, Paul Smith’s stayed in person throughout the year. It had only one reported case of COVID-19 this past school year, and college administrators chalked this up to student, faculty and staff diligence in following the safety guidelines.

In May the college held an in-person commencement ceremony with limited attendance.

“Jean [Strauss] and I have had a wonderful experience as the interim presidential couple at Paul Smith’s College this past year,” Strauss said in a press release. He also had advice for Dalrymple. “Please know that we stand ready to be of assistance in any way, and know, too, of our confidence in what you will be able to bring to help Paul Smith’s realize its full potential as the ‘College of the Adirondacks.'”

Stager said Strauss “gave it his all” and added that he can’t even imagine the pressures of being an interim president during a global pandemic.

Henderson said Strauss came in as the interim president during a “very hard year” in education but thought he handled it well. He mused that after this year, Strauss must be tired.

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