Stuart C. Lord

Stuart C. Lord
5th President of Naropa University
In office
July 1, 2009 – December 31, 2012
Preceded by Thomas B. Coburn
Personal details
Born April 9, 1959
New Rochelle, New York
Residence Boulder, Colorado
Alma mater Texas Christian University (A.B.)
Princeton Theological Seminary (M.Div.)
Princeton Theological Seminary (M.Th.)
United Theological Seminary (D.Min.)
Profession University President

Stuart Calvin Lord (born April 9, 1959) is an American educator and academic specializing in service-learning, multicultural and spiritual education, and leadership and ethics.[1] Lord was a Professor of Sociology and Service Learning and at DePauw University, the Associate Provost and Dean of the Tucker Foundation, executive director of the President’s Summit for America’s Future, Executive Director of the Grover L. Hartman Center and associate provost of Dartmouth College.[2] In 2009 Lord became the fifth president of Naropa University.[2] Lord was the first black president of Naropa University.[3] In 2011, Lord stepped down from the presidency of Naropa University.[4] In May of 2013, Lord was appointed the new Executive Director of the Emergency Family Assistance Association in Boulder, CO.[5][6]

Early life

Born in New Rochelle, New York in 1959 in foster care, Lord expressed an interest in community activism from an early age.[7] In the 3rd grade Lord had a profound response to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., inspiring him to lead a life of service and inclusivity.[8] In his youth, Lord was a member of Boy Scouts of America and in 1977 was awarded the rank of Eagle Scout.[9] Lord attended New Rochelle High School where he graduated as an All-American Runner.[2]

Lord went on to attend Texas Christian University (TCU), receiving his Bachelor of Religious Studies and a minor in Sociology in 1982.[2] Lord was the only student in his graduating class to receive the ‘Texas Christian University Outstanding Student Leadership Award’.[9] During his time at Texas Christian University Lord also received the ‘Pine Brook Home Association Award,’ ‘The American Legion School Award,’ ‘NAACP Scholastic Achievement Award’ and ‘The Westchester Sunday School Councils Scholarship Award’.[9]

Early career

DePauw University

Lord went on to receive both his Master of Divinity and Master of Theology degrees from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1986 and 1987, respectively; becoming the Assistant University Chaplain at DePauw University that same year. During his term Lord received the ‘Honorary DePauw Tiger Award’ and became the Director of Community Service Program of DePauw University in 1987. In 1988 Lord was appointed as the University Chaplain and in 1989 received the ‘Outstanding Young Men of America’ award.[1][2][9][10]

Lord received his Doctor of Ministry degree from the United Theological Seminary in 1993 with a specialization in multicultural education. With his doctorate completed, Lord, from 1993 to 2000, assumed, in addition to his primary duties, the responsibilities of Assistant Professor of University Studies and Director of the Bonner Scholars Program, both at DePauw University. Lord served as the University Chaplain until 1994 when he was appointed as Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, Director of Leadership Development and Service and Director of Volunteer Programs at DePauw University, these postings lasted until 1996.[1][2][9][10][11]

In 1996, the Points of Light Foundation and the Corporation for National Service appointed Lord to serve as a one year term as executive director of the President’s Summit for America’s Future. The President’s Summit was a national volunteer initiative targeted at improving the quality of life of America’s youth. Lord managed the summit staff team of four hundred and was responsible for the general budgetary oversight and provided day-to-day managerial support for the chief executive officer. On April 27, 1997, five thousand volunteers attended the summit and, as executive director, Lord was featured on MSNBC and the Sunday Morning Show. The President’s Summit for America’s Future seeded the America’s Promise Organization, for which Lord served as the first chairperson of the University Advisory Board. As a result of the President’s Summit, DePauw University served as the backdrop for Oprah Winfrey's launch of her national initiative called Oprah’s Angels.[1][9][10][11]

In 1997 Lord was appointed from Associate Dean of Academic Affairs to Associate Dean of DePauw University, in addition to Executive Director of the Grover L. Hartman Center at DePauw University. This posting lasted until 2000. Through Lord’s building of student service programs and the Hartman Center, annual student body participation in community service increased from 25 percent to more than 93 percent, a total increase of 1,900 students. Lord also created the Hartman Institute to promote dialogue on social justice issues and the Leadership Academy, a four-year comprehensive leadership development program. He also began a summer internship program and held the annual Safe Place Summit. This program and summit brought local youth service providers together to collectively create benchmarks and strategies catering to the needs of the communities’ youth. During his time at DePauw, Lord also served as the president and the vice president of the National Association for University College Chaplains.[1][9][10][11]

Dartmouth College

In 2000, Lord transitioned from his positions of Assistant Professor of University Studies, Director of the Bonner Scholars Program, Executive Director of the Grover L. Hartman Center and associate Dean of DePauw University and took the position of Dean of the Tucker Foundation and Associate Provost at Dartmouth College.[11]

As associate provost, Lord worked on initiatives for institutional planning within the Provost Division to enhance staff development, retention and recruitment in support of diversity. He was also named co-chair of the Provost Diversity Council to foster greater collaboration. Lord also pioneered and led the College’s “Katrina Help” program, which deployed Dartmouth students year-round to the Gulf Coast to assist with the recovery effort following the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. In addition Lord oversaw ‘Project Bangladesh’, a student-led initiative with the goal of building an orphanage in Charfassion, Bangladesh, which was established at the Tucker Foundation under his leadership.[1][11]

The Tucker Foundation, dedicated in 1951 by Dartmouth's 12th President, John Sloan Dickey, in honor of William Jewett Tucker, who was President of Dartmouth from 1893 to 1909, was founded to "further the moral and spiritual life of the College." It is home to numerous volunteer and civic service programs and at the time of Lord’s appointment served close to 2,000 students a year in community service programs, fellowships and internships, or student-sponsored ministries. While Lord was dean of the Tucker Foundation, it emerged as one of the nation’s leading on-campus civic service and spiritual life centers with student body participation in the foundation’s programs growing from approximately 45 percent to more than 70 percent. Lord also led the Tucker Foundation to raise over $30 million for its programmatic initiatives. Lord restructured the administrative backbone of the foundation, defined a new strategic direction, increased annual giving by more than 800 percent and oversaw a near tripling of the endowment.[1][11]

Lord’s work on co-development of Summer Enrichment at Dartmouth Program (SEAD) with the chair of Dartmouth’s Department of Education resulted in a program that brings students from under-resourced high schools in California, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania and South Carolina to Dartmouth for intensive academics, service learning and college preparation over a period of two to three weeks in each of three consecutive summers. More than 80 percent of SEAD graduates are now attending college. During his tenure at Dartmouth, Lord also initiated the Civic Internship Program, which provides students with a firsthand knowledge of the not-for-profit and philanthropy sectors of higher education.[1][12]

During his later years at Dartmouth, Lord was appointed as Dartmouth’s vice president for institutional diversity and equity on an interim basis for the 2007–08 academic year. While in this position Lord provided campus leadership on issues of equity, diversity and equality and in conjunction with school deans and department heads, Lord worked to establish diversity plans for each graduate school and department and for the provost’s division while advising the College’s president and Human Resources on diversity-related campus and personnel issues.[1][12]

President of Naropa University

On March 2, 2009, Lord was announced to be the 5th President of Naropa University, a role he assumed on July 1, 2009.

University reorganization

Prior to the Lord administration, Naropa University’s institutional decision-making relied on ten separate university administrators who reported directly to the President. Those officials represented varied offices throughout the university, ranging from Business and Finance to Student Affairs. At the start of the Lord administration this model was restructured, consolidating all of the University’s functions under four separate divisions: Enrollment Management and Student Affairs, Business and Finance, Academic Affairs, and Advancement. Each of these sectors was appointed a Divisional Vice President which would report directly to Lord. The four Divisional Vice Presidents, including the newly created positions of Chief Administrative Officer and Associate Provost comprised Lord’s new cabinet. This reconstruction greatly streamlined Naropa’s operations. Of the ten officials that previously looked to the president as their supervisor, six now reported to a Divisional Vice President whose attention was wholly focused on managing the affairs of her or his division.[13][14][15]

Financial Stability

Six months into the Lord presidency the FBI notified the University that their agency was investigating a Naropa employee for financial fraud. The FBI investigation estimated that this employee had embezzled nearly $500,000 in university funds over a two-year period. The university fired not only the culprit but also the chief financial officer, and its comptroller, for "failure to establish proper controls," Lord said in an interview. Just prior to this news the Lord administration completed an internal budget analysis that deemed the University’s long-term financial situation as unsustainable. The analysis concluded that Naropa needed to reduce its expenses by $1.4 million in order to maintain fiscal sustainability. The budget review further noted that over the past seven fiscal years, Naropa operated a structural deficit in which overrun expenses each year were “balanced” through a series of accounting maneuvers. Thus, the underlying causes for the fiscal imbalance remained for years.[13][14][15][16][17]

The Higher Learning Commission (HLC), which evaluates the accreditation status of all American universities, concluded in its 2010 review that Naropa’s fiscal situation needed to be drastically improved if the university was to maintain its status as an accredited institution In response to this the Lord administration enacted reforms to ensure the University’s financial sustainability by implementing the most aggressive fiscal balancing in the University’s history.[13][14][15]

At the start of the Lord presidency, Naropa had been operating at a deficit. However, by the start of the 2010–2011 academic year, the University solidified its first balanced budget in nearly a decade. In addition, Lord, in the 2011-11 academic year, lead an initiative to raise faculty salaries by 12 percent, which is 10 percent over the national average.[18] In an interview Lord said, "As part of our commitment to investing in Naropa's people, the Board of Trustees recently approved salary increases, allowing us to build a better salary structure for our faculty and staff at a time when other universities are reducing wages.[18] In response to this new found financial stability the HLC gave the University a five-year re-accreditation, with a follow up focus visit in 2012.[13][14][15]

Fundraising and External Relations

Though Naropa had existed for over 30 years, it did not, before 2009, emphasize alumni relations as a priority. This resulted in an alumni donation rate of less-than 5%, and little connection, on the part of the alumni, to the University. Since 2009 however, Lord has hosted over 10 alumni specific events in Boulder and other major cities across the country and hosted over 45 events during this past year at his home, at which a record number of alumni and current students have been in attendance. All of these efforts have resulted in Naropa exceeding its fundraising goal for the first time in years. A record $1.35 million was raised.[13][14][15][19]

Under the Lord administration Naropa University received a five-year $1.9 million commitment from the U.S. Department of Education’s Title III program, the largest single grant in the institutions 36-year history. The grant will be used to implement the university’s undergraduate academic plan and to help expand the university’s capacity to serve low-income students. Naropa is one of two Colorado higher education institutions to receive grant for faculty development, endowments and improving academic programs.[20][21]

The Lord administration also has brought, in its two years of operation, a new level of commencement speakers to Naropa. In 2010 Melanne Verveer, Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues, former chief of staff to then-First Lady Hillary Clinton, appointed to her current position by President Barack Obama in April 2009 spoke to students about human rights and visionary activism.[22] In 2011, Howard Dean, Former presidential candidate and Vermont Governor spoke to students about the power of America’s new emerging generation of leaders and their profound effect on the economy, politics and the world at large.[23]

Executive Director of Emergency Family Assistance Association

On May of 2013, Lord was appointed the new Executive Director of the Emergency Family Assistance Association in Boulder, CO.[24][25] "All of us at EFAA are thrilled to welcome Dr. Lord as our new executive director," EFAA Board President Nancy Sanders said in a news release.[26] "Stuart not only has the professional credentials as a talented administrator, advocate and leader, he is committed to the mission of our organization and has a genuine passion for helping people in need." EFAA has faced a significant increase in need during the Great Recession, and Sanders said the organization also hopes Lord can increase its fundraising.[27] "We were looking for someone who could continue to raise awareness around the issues of family poverty and take action and create momentum around those issues," Sanders said in an interview.[28] "He has been a leader for a long time in a number of prestigious organizations. "He's had a lot of very successful leadership roles, as well as working in anti-poverty programs all around the world." [29] Lord officially started work at EFAA on June 3, 2013.[30]

Personal

In 2008, Lord donated one of his kidneys to his twin brother who suffered from kidney failure. Due to complications arising from the surgery, Lord was hospitalized over 30 days. Both did eventually fully recover.[31]

Awards and honors

Publications

Courses taught

Service trips led by Lord

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 President John Cobb | Naropa University, Boulder, Colorado
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 This page has moved
  3. ↑ Boulder's Naropa University appoints first black president - Boulder Daily Camera
  4. ↑ Naropa President Stuart Lord stepping down after two years at Boulder school - Boulder Daily Camera
  5. ↑ http://www.dailycamera.com/news/boulder/ci_23182165/former-naropa-president-stuart-lord-named-new-head
  6. ↑ http://www.bcbr.com/article/20130507/NEWS/130509940
  7. ↑ The New School: Ecology, Culture and the Inner Life
  8. ↑ President John Cobb | Naropa University, Boulder, Colorado
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 http://www.naropa.edu/cfo/curr_vitae.cfm
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 Former DePauw Administrator and Professor Named President of Naropa University - DePauw University
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5 Stuart Calvin Lord named Dean of Dartmouth's Tucker Foundation
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Naropa University's new President, Dr. Stuart Lord. | elephant journal
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 http://www.naropa.edu/strategicplan/documents/strategicplan.pdf
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 http://www.naropa.edu/reorg/faq.html
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 http://www.naropa.edu/about/documents/HLCReponseReportFinal.pdf
  16. ↑ Boulder's Naropa University investigates alleged embezzlement - Boulder Daily Camera
  17. ↑ elephant exclusive: Alleged Embezzler of $450,000 Naropa University identified. | elephant journal
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Naropa University employees receiving 2 to 12 percent raises - Boulder Daily Camera
  19. ↑ Naropa University fundraising bring record $1.35M - Boulder Daily Camera
  20. ↑ http://www.naropa.edu/reorg/documents/NUTitleIIIGrant.pdf
  21. ↑ Boulder's Naropa receives $1.9M grant for low-income students - Boulder Daily Camera
  22. ↑ http://www.naropa.edu/news/commencement.cfm
  23. ↑ Howard Dean talks politics prior to giving Naropa graduation speech
  24. ↑ http://www.dailycamera.com/news/boulder/ci_23182165/former-naropa-president-stuart-lord-named-new-head
  25. ↑ http://www.bcbr.com/article/20130507/NEWS/130509940
  26. ↑ http://www.dailycamera.com/news/boulder/ci_23182165/former-naropa-president-stuart-lord-named-new-head
  27. ↑ http://www.bcbr.com/article/20130507/NEWS/130509940
  28. ↑ http://www.dailycamera.com/news/boulder/ci_23182165/former-naropa-president-stuart-lord-named-new-head
  29. ↑ http://www.bcbr.com/article/20130507/NEWS/130509940
  30. ↑ http://www.dailycamera.com/news/boulder/ci_23182165/former-naropa-president-stuart-lord-named-new-head
  31. ↑ TheDartmouth.com: Stuart Lord donates kidney to twin

External links