The Hiram College Board of Trustees is pleased to announce the appointment of David P. Haney, Ph.D., an established higher education leader, as interim president, effective September 1, 2020.
Dr. Haney comes to Hiram College after serving two years as the President of Centenary University, a private liberal arts university in Hackettstown, New Jersey. Prior to his presidency at Centenary, Dr. Haney served four years as the Vice President for Academic Affairs at Emory & Henry College, in Southwest Virginia. He also held administrative and faculty positions at Appalachian State University, Black Hills State University, Auburn University, and Swarthmore College. Dr. Haney began his administrative career as Dean of Students at the Cambridge School of Weston, a progressive secondary boarding and day school in Weston, Massachusetts.
While at Centenary University, Dr. Haney led an effort to achieve financial stability. Using the principals of human-centered design, he organized a campus-wide strategic planning process that emphasized educational value, innovation, organizational health, fiscal responsibility, and community engagement. Since his departure from Centenary in December 2018, he has served as a consultant on strategic planning, published articles in the national higher education press, and worked on a book that uses “hermeneutics,” or the philosophy of interpretation, to address problems arising from the modern emphasis on the individual and to provide a philosophical basis for successful administrative practices.
“I am honored to be joining the administrative team at Hiram College as interim president at a critical time for higher education in general and Hiram in particular,” said Dr. Haney. “Hiram has made great strides in liberal arts and professional education, and I will work hard to carry that momentum forward.”
“Dr. David Haney is an experienced and accomplished college leader, and we are delighted to welcome him to our community,” said Dean Scarborough, chairman of the Hiram College Board of Trustees. “He is an experienced change leader who involves the entire community. He will fit well into Hiram’s culture and be effective in leading us in these tumultuous times.”
Dr. Haney and his wife, Lisa, a veteran elementary school teacher and musician, are excited to join the Hiram College community. As the presidential couple at Centenary University, they regularly welcomed students, staff, faculty, trustees, and alumni to the president’s home, and attended on-campus events. Together, they look forward to the time when those gatherings are possible again at Hiram.
Dr. Haney will work alongside of Dr. Varlotta, who will be leaving Hiram on September 30 to become California Lutheran University’s new president.
