Ayers named ninth Richmond president

President-elect Edward L. Ayers (c.) accepts a Richmond sweatshirt from Ethan McWilliams, '07, president of the Richmond College Student Government Association, and Lisa Warner, '07, president of the Westhampton College Government Association, following his introduction to the campus community Nov. 14.

The dean of the University of Virginia’s largest college and a nationally acclaimed scholar of Southern history will become the next president of the University of Richmond.

The Board of Trustees elected Edward L. Ayers, currently the Buckner W. Clay Dean of Arts & Sciences and the Hugh P. Kelly Professor of History at the University of Virginia, to be the institution’s ninth president effective July 1.

“Ed Ayers is an outstanding teacher, a distinguished scholar and a proven leader with a vision and passion for making the University of Richmond the best it can be,” said George W. Wellde Jr., rector of the University.

Ayers earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Tennessee and his master’s degree and Ph.D. in American studies at Yale. One of the nation’s leading scholars on the American Civil War, Ayers has authored or edited nine books, one of which, The Promise of the New South: Life after Reconstruction, was a finalist for both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. He has served as dean of the College of Arts & Sciences at Virginia since 2001 and a member of Virginia’s faculty since 1980.

“I am both honored and thrilled to have been selected as the University of Richmond’s next president,” said Ayers. “I have long admired the University of Richmond’s traditions, its unique mix of academic programs, and its superb faculty, staff, student body and alumni. I look forward to being part of an ambitious future of quality, distinctiveness and purpose.” 

Ayers said he was attracted to Richmond because “it has all the ingredients to offer one of the finest educations in America. ... You have arts and sciences and then the other four schools that really set the University apart as a place that’s unique in American education. It gives us that combination that makes Richmond small enough to be a community, but with enough capacity to make a difference.”

At a welcoming ceremony Nov. 14, Ayers said he comes to the job with “great enthusiasm and determination.” He cited the ongoing diversity initiative, generous financial aid and the extent of volunteerism as some of the many strengths of the University.

The range of schools is “just right for what this place is all about,” he said. “All the schools, undergraduate and professional, maintain an intimate scale and put the student-faculty relationship first.”

Ayers said he recognizes “the remarkable staff” of the University. “The continuity and dedication that each one provides is priceless.”

He said the faculty accomplish great things every day, and “I can’t wait to get to know my fellow faculty members, my fellow teachers, my fellow scholars and to work alongside you.”

He also said Richmond students are “great strengths,” and he and his wife look forward to getting to know them in “lots of different settings over the coming years.”

The alumni “sustain the highest aspirations for this place,” said Ayers. He said there should be no limits to the University’s aspirations, “to how good this unique place can be.”     

At Virginia, Ayers leads a school with 25 departments, more than 50 majors, approximately 10,000 undergraduates and 575 tenured and tenure-track professors. As dean, Ayers raised more than $110 million for the College of Arts & Sciences.

Ayers’ book In the Presence of Mine Enemies, War in the Heart of America 1859– 1863 received the 2004 Bancroft Prize for a distinguished book in American history and the American Historical Association’s Albert J. Beveridge Award for the best English-language book on the history of the United States, Canada or Latin America.

A pioneer in digital media, he produced The Valley of the Shadow: Two Communities in the American Civil War, which has attracted more than four million visitors to its Web version. The CD-ROM version won the first eLincoln Prize for best digital work on the era of the Civil War.

Ayers has won numerous teaching awards, including the U.S. Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation and the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education and the Outstanding Faculty Award from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia.

In 2000 President Clinton appointed Ayers to the National Council on the Humanities, and in 1995 he served as the Fulbright Commission’s John Adams Professor of American Studies at University of Groningen, The Netherlands.

Edward and Abby Ayers.

His election concluded a national search that began in January. A presidential search committee, chaired by alumnus and former rector of the Board of Trustees Robert L. Burrus Jr., included trustee, alumni, faculty, staff and student representatives.

“The board tasked us with identifying the best person to lead the University at this critical time in its history. We began by listening to University stakeholders about the characteristics needed and then aggressively recruited a stellar pool of candidates. Of all the accomplished and distinguished individuals we looked at, one stood out,” said Burrus. “I am confident that we indeed accomplished our goal.”

“Dean Ayers has been a visionary leader for the College of Arts & Sciences for the last five years,” said Virginia Rector Thomas F. Farrell II. “He has been a fantastic leader at the university, and the University of Richmond’s gain is our loss.”

Ayers and his wife, Abby, are parents of two children, a daughter, Hannah, who is currently a student at the College of William and Mary, and a son, Nate, who recently graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University. Abby Ayers, also a graduate of the University of Tennessee, is a former teacher and an active volunteer with children.

For more information on president-elect Ayers, visit www.richmond.edu/president-elect.