There was much excitement in our community earlier this month when Willamette University inaugurated new president, Dr. Stephen E. Thorsett. Students, faculty, representatives of Oregon's Native American tribes, state and local government, other higher education institutions and various Willamette constituencies filled Smith Auditorium for the ceremony to welcome the university's 25th president in its 170 year history. Thorsett succeeds M. Lee Pelton, who has served as president of Willamette University since July 1998. Thorsett, son of Willamette University emeritus biology Professor Grant Thorsett, grew up in Salem and graduated from South Salem High School. As a teenager, he worked summers and weekends at Willamette washing dishes. “I am thrilled to have been selected as Willamette University's next president. Willamette was my first introduction to the power of a liberal arts education in a small community setting,” said Thorsett. “Willamette is special to me for the quality of its teaching and learning, for its mix of a strong liberal arts core with outstanding professional graduate programs, and as a place with which I have a strong personal history and affinity.' Dr. Thorsett is an internationally recognized astrophysicist, most recently served as dean of the Division of Physical and Biological Sciences at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Prior to his current role at UC Santa Cruz, Thorsett was an assistant professor of physics at Princeton and a research fellow at Caltech. He earned numerous awards, fellowships and honors for his achievements as both an undergraduate and graduate student. He earned his bachelor's in mathematics with honors at Carleton College, where he graduated summa cum laude. “Stephen Thorsett brings an exceptional combination of visionary leadership, teaching experience and scholarly achievement to Willamette,” said Board of Trustees Chair Steven Wynne. “Steve's dedication to a diverse liberal arts education and his passion for the highest academic standards will continue to advance Willamette as one of the nation's top tier liberal arts universities. He understands and values Willamette University, Salem and the Pacific Northwest in distinctive and deeply personal ways,” said Wynne. Willamette University is a private university that educates 2,600 students in a residential undergraduate liberal arts college and professional graduate schools of law, management and education. Adjacent to the Oregon Capitol, Willamette is nationally recognized for teaching and scholarly work in a community that models diversity, sustainability and service to others, values that reflect the university motto, “Not unto ourselves alone are we born.”
