President Richard Warch Opens Lawrence University's 153rd Academic Year with Matriculation Convocation on Civic Engagement

APPLETON, WIS. -- Lawrence University President Richard Warch officially opens the college's 2002-2003 academic year Thursday, Sept. 26 with his annual matriculation convocation. Warch presents, "Liberal Education and Civic Engagement," at 11:10 a.m. in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel. The event is free and open to the public.

In his address, Warch will examine today's calls to volunteerism and public service by such national initiatives as CampusCares, Partnership for Public Service and USA Freedom Corps. He also will discuss the role volunteerism and public service plays in a Lawrence education and provide an overview of service activities in which Lawrence students and alumni are currently engaged.

Warch, an ordained minister in the United Presbyterian Church, has served as Lawrence's 14th president since 1979. He earned his bachelor of arts degree from Williams College and his doctorate in American Studies from Yale University.

He remained at Yale for 10 years, serving in a variety of positions, including associate dean of the college and director of the National Humanities Institute program. He came to Lawrence in 1977, spending two years as vice president of academic affairs before being named president.

In June, 1999, Warch was named to the executive committee of the Annapolis Group, an association of more than 100 of America's leading liberal arts colleges. In the 1987 study, "The Effective College President," a two-year project funded by the Exxon Education Foundation, he was named one of the nation's top 100 college presidents.

He is the author of the book "School of the Prophets: Yale College 1710-1740" and co-edited "John Brown" in the Great Lives Observed Series published by Prentice-Hall.