Matthew Derr

Matthew Derr
President Derr speaking at the 2016 commencement
11th President of Sterling College
Incumbent
Assumed office May 2012
Preceded by	Will Wootton
Personal details
Born	(1967-07-12) July 12, 1967 Flint, Michigan
Domestic partner	Julian Sharp
Residence	Craftsbury Common, Vermont, U.S.
Alma mater	Antioch College, University of Michigan, New York University
Profession	Academic
Website	Sterling College President Matthew Derr

Matthew Derr (born July 12, 1967) is a higher education leader and was appointed the 11th President of Sterling College^[1] in May 2012. In December 2010, the Council for Advancement and Support of Education awarded Derr with the organization's Chief Executive Leadership Award^[2] and the Great Lakes Colleges Association recognized his efforts on behalf of liberal education with a visiting fellowship.

Professional life

Under Derr’s leadership, Sterling, which is among the smallest liberal arts colleges in the nation, has experienced a period of rapid growth in student enrollment and philanthropic support, through the largest successful fundraising campaign in institutional history.^[3] Sterling expanded its emphasis on global field studies in 2016 with support from the Endeavor Foundation^[4] and launched the Rian Fried Center for Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems,^[5] including, in 2015, a continuing education program named the School of the New American Farmstead.^[6]

The Sterling mission is focused on environmental stewardship.^[7] During Derr’s tenure, the college received national attention for becoming one of the first institutions in the U.S. to divest from fossil fuels.^[8] Sterling has been recognized for its sustainability initiatives by Sierra Magazine^[9] and earned a STARS Gold Rating from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education.^[10] The Real Food Challenge ranked Sterling the number one college in the U.S. for two consecutive years, 2015 and 2016, for its commitment to serving locally sourced sustainably produced food.^[11]

Prior to Sterling, Derr served as an alumni leader and ultimately Interim President^[12] of his alma mater, Antioch College, where he is credited with successfully leading the effort to revive the institution.^[13]

For more than a decade Derr was affiliated with the Walnut Hill School for the Arts where he served in a number of roles, including Acting and Associate Headmaster. He has also served in senior admission roles at Earlham College and Connecticut College.

Personal life

Derr was born in Flint, Michigan. His grandparents and parents were autoworkers. He attended public schools before earning a Bachelor of Arts in History from Antioch College and Masters of Social Work in Community and Organizing and Social Systems from the University of Michigan. He has also studied at the George Heyman Center for Philanthropy at New York University.^[14]

President Derr is one of a handful of openly gay college presidents in the United States.^[15] He currently lives in Craftsbury Common, Vermont with his partner Julian Sharp, who is also an alumnus of Antioch College. Sharp is a retired trustee of the Unitarian Universalist Association and presently a seminarian at the Pacific School of Religion of the Graduate Theological Union.

References