William Durden
| William G. Durden | |
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| 27th President of Dickinson College |
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In office 1999–2013 |
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| Preceded by | A. Lee Fritschler |
| Succeeded by | Nancy A. Roseman |
| Personal details | |
| Spouse(s) | Elke Durden |
| Alma mater | Dickinson College, Johns Hopkins University |
William G. Durden is the former president of Dickinson College. He was a Fulbright scholar and a recipient of the Klingenstein Fellowship from Teacher's College, Columbia University.
Durden completed high school at The Albany Academy in Albany, New York. He was one of the first generation in his family to attend college, receiving a B.A. degree from Dickinson (class of 1971) and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in German Languages and Literature from Johns Hopkins University. While a student at Dickinson, he was a member of the Theta Chi fraternity.
Durden was the executive director of the Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth for 16 years and a member of the university's German Department. For 11 of his years at Hopkins, he was a senior education consultant for the U.S. Department of State and chair of its Advisory Committee on Exceptional Children and Youth. Dr. Durden has also served as President of the Sylvan Academy of Sylvan Learning Systems, Inc. and as Vice-President for Academic Affairs of the Caliber Learning Network, a joint distance-learning venture of Sylvan and MCI.
He assumed the presidency of Dickinson College on July 1, 1999 and was inaugurated on 30 October 1999.
During his presidency Durden led several sweeping changes at Dickinson to re-establish a leading role in Liberal Arts education. Durden oversaw the combination of former Library and Information Technology departments into Library and Information Services while also updating the Universities antiquated student record systems. Academics were improved and the focus on international education strengthened. Durden was also a strong champion of the Liberal Arts education.
In 2008, President Durden was a signatory to the Amethyst Initiative, an organization urging a public debate about reconsidering the legal drinking age of 21.
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