Sean M. Decatur

Sean M. Decatur (born September 4, 1968) is a chemist, college administrator, and the 19th president of Kenyon College. Decatur is the first African-American to serve as the College’s president. He was appointed president of Kenyon in 2013 after serving five years as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Oberlin College.

Decatur is a native of the Cleveland, Ohio, area. His mother was a public school teacher of mathematics and science. He attended Cleveland public schools and the Hawken School. He earned a bachelor’s degree at Swarthmore College in 1990 and a doctorate in biophysical chemistry at Stanford University in 1995.

He taught at Mount Holyoke College from 1995 to 2008. He served as an assistant professor of chemistry, then an associate professor of chemistry, and served as department chair from 2001 to 2004. In 2005, he was appointed the Marilyn Dawson Sarles Professor of Life Sciences. He was also an associate dean of faculty for science from 2005-08.

Decatur was a visiting scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2004-05. From 2008 to 2013, he served as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Oberlin College.

Decatur is married to Renee Romano, associate professor of history and African American studies at Oberlin College. Romano is a specialist in 20th century American history, with research interests in African American history, civil rights, and historical memory. They have two children, Sabine and Owen.

Op-ed pieces on higher education
“The Winner – A Liberal Education,” New York Times Room for Debate, January 24, 2011

“It’s about fit, not data,” New York Times Room for Debate, March 31, 2011

“Education on iTunes?” New York Times Room for Debate, September 5, 2011

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