(Photo taken from skidmore.edu)
After fifteen and a half years of service, President Philip Glotzbach has announced he will be stepping down after the 2019-2020 school year.
In a school-wide email on Feb. 25, Glotzbach explained the decision as “indeed a bittersweet moment for [Marie and I].” The coming months will allow the couple to “continue in our shared work and to express our personal thanks for everything our community has done.”
When Glotzbach first arrived on campus, he was inspired by Skidmore’s new driving mission and saw the potential for what the community could accomplish. “The phrase Creative Thought Matters, that phrase was developed right before we came here. That was attractive to Marie and me, to talk about creativity at the center of liberal arts,” said Glotzbach in an interview with Skidmore News.
New curriculums, outreach programs and buildings thrived under Glotzbach’s presidency. Some of the most notable include the creation of MDOCs, the Zankel Music Center, fundraising campaigns and the development of the Center for Integrated Sciences.
Throughout his email to the community, Glotzbach gives thanks to those who marked his experience at Skidmore. Professor Jeffrey Seagraves from the exercise science department was on the committee who initially hired Glotzbach. According to Segraves, the committee knew as soon as Glotzbach walked in that “this is our guy.”
“It was the end of the day, might have been the last interview of the candidates we brought here to interview, and he was immediately attractive. One, because of his positive demeanor. Number two, because he was articulate and thoughtful. Three, he was so familiar with the liberal arts college environment, all of the issues and problems facing liberal arts colleges.”
Seagraves explained that Glotzbach clearly had an in-depth knowledge concerning the liberal arts experience and the problems it faced. He had thought about financial aid, he had thought about the general education curriculum, he had thought about class size—how to deal with it all.
“What’s happened over the last fifteen years is nothing but progression for the institution. I think the payoff for that will be in the pool of applicants we get. I would be stunned if the success of Skidmore college under Phil’s leadership does not translate to a good pool of applicants, and not just in terms of quantity. He’s not going to be easy to replace.”
On March 19, the school announced the faculty members and students who will serve on the search committee, with Scott McGraw, the Chair of the Board, at the helm. Earlier this month, McGraw sent out an update in which the Skidmore community was invited to take part in the process, which “will be inclusive and will offer numerous opportunities for input from campus constituencies.”
Glotzbach expressed his belief that the new hire will continue to fulfill Skidmore’s mission as a creative liberal arts institution, while bringing new visions and ideas to power the college’s future.
As the news of Glotzbach’s retirement continues to come out, one thing remains the same: his insistence that Skidmore is “stronger, more unified and more successful” than it has been in the past. His admiration for this campus rings true in these affirmations and more, proving once again that he will be missed.