On April 6, Scripps College announced Amy Marcus-Newhall’s unanimous selection as the 11th president of the college in an email from Board Chair Laura Hockett SC ’85. This comes in the wake of former President Suzanne Keen’s resignation after an eight-month tenure.
Marcus-Newhall has served as interim or acting president three times: once during the 2015-2016 academic year, and twice more prior to and following Keen’s tenure as president. Now, 16 days after Marcus-Newhall stepped into the role of interim president, she will assume the official title of president.
“We have the utmost confidence in her ability to propel the College’s ambitious vision for the future and to cement its position as a world-class educational institution as we approach our centennial anniversary,” Hockett said in the email.
Hockett also said Marcus-Newhall will serve as president for three years, leading up to the institution’s centennial anniversary.
“As the end of her term approaches, the Board of Trustees will engage community members, higher education peers, and industry experts in conversations about the design of Scripps’ future presidential search processes,” the email said.
Marcus-Newhall has worked at Scripps as a professor and administrator for more than 30 years, most recently in the role of the vice president for academic affairs and dean of faculty.
“It is a privilege to continue the legacy of the Scripps presidency and to build upon the accomplishments of transformative leaders who have guided the College’s growth and evolution for almost a century,” she said in an April 6 message to the Scripps community.
Marcus-Newhall added that the time she has spent so far as interim president has been the most gratifying of her career.
“As president, I will build on those accomplishments to define a vision that reinforces Scripps’ core identity, cements its enduring purpose, and strengthens its extraordinary community,” she said.