Lawrence Board of Trustees Announces President Warch Retirement Set for June 2004

APPLETON, WIS. -- The Lawrence University Board of Trustees announced Friday afternoon (10/18) at the conclusion of its annual fall meeting the planned retirement of President Richard Warch, effective June 30, 2004, capping 25 years as Lawrence's president.

Warch, 63, the second-longest serving president in Lawrence's 154-year history, became the college's 14th president in September, 1979 after serving two years as Lawrence's vice president for academic affairs and professor of history. Only Samuel Plantz (1894-1924) served as Lawrence president longer than Warch.

Jeffrey Riester, chair of the Board of Trustees, said the news was bittersweet, but not unexpected.

"As trustees, we've known for some time that Rik's remarkable tenure would end before long even as we hoped Lawrence could benefit from his exceptional leadership for as many years as possible," said Riester in announcing Warch's retirement plans. "We're extremely grateful to Rik for his dedicated and selfless service to the college these many years and the wonderful legacy he will leave behind. At the same time, we are excited for him and his wife, Margot, for what the future may hold for them in the years after Lawrence."

Riester credited Warch for timing his retirement in a manner that will allow the Board ample time to form a committee and conduct a thorough search for a new president.

"By sharing his plans with us at such an early date, Rik has given the Board an opportunity to explore all avenues for a worthy successor and develop a plan for as smooth and seamless a transition as possible to new leadership," said Riester.

A native of Ho-Ho-Kus, N.J., Warch earned his bachelor's degree in history at Williams College in 1961. An ordained minister in the United Presbyterian Church, he studied theology at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and earned a bachelor of divinity degree from the Yale Divinity School in 1964 and a Ph.D. in American Studies at Yale in 1968.

Warch remained at Yale as an associate professor of history and American Studies and served in a number of academic administrative positions, including associate director of the National Humanities Institute and associate dean of Yale College before coming to Lawrence in 1977.

In 1987, he was cited as one of the country's top 100 college presidents in the two-year study, "The Effective College President" which was funded by the Exxon Education Foundation.