Marlboro Welcomes Ninth President, Kevin Quigley

Marlboro College is pleased to announce the appointment of a new president, Kevin F. F. Quigley, following the decision of the board of trustees on February 7. Chosen from an impressive group of candidates by a search committee composed of 16 trustees, alumni, faculty, staff, and students, Quigley will assume the presidency starting July 1, 2015.

“Marlboro College’s values and purpose align well with my own educational experiences and life journey,” said Quigley, who has diverse skills and experience ranging from teaching to guiding large international organizations.

“We are thrilled to be welcoming someone of Kevin’s stature into our unique academic community,” said Dean Nicyper, board chairman. “With his rich background in academia, international service, institutional advancement, alumni relations, and leadership training, Kevin will help mobilize the Marlboro community to realize its 21st-century priorities.”

Before his current role as Peace Corps country director in Thailand, Quigley was president and CEO of the National Peace Corps Association (NPCA), a global alumni organization for the more than 200,000 former Peace Corps staff and volunteers. There he developed a community-based model for the Peace Corps’ 50th anniversary, using social media to spark the largest engagement ever, and established the More Peace Corps Campaign, resulting in the highest appropriation in the agency’s history—a $60 million increase.

During his time at NPCA, Quigley designed and secured endowment funding for the Harris Wofford Global Citizen Award, recognizing and honoring volunteers’ impact on individuals they serve, and helped secure passage of the Peace Corps Commemorative Act signed into law by President Obama. He also co-founded the Building Bridges Coalition to improve the quality, quantity, and impact of Americans who volunteer internationally.

Quigley has a deep appreciation for academia, with degrees from Swarthmore College, National University of Ireland, Columbia University, and Georgetown University. He has been a Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellow at 12 liberal arts colleges from 2004 to 2012, and a faculty-practitioner graduate instructor teaching about international studies and management from 1995 to 2011. Earlier, he was guest scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and the recipient of several other international professional fellowships.

“Liberal arts education, especially in distinctive and academically rich settings such as Marlboro College, has a unique ability to anticipate change and prepare individuals for thoughtful, purposeful and effective engagement in the world,” said Quigley. “At its best, this education stirs a passion for life-long learning, encourages discernment and judgment, offers a global perspective, and fosters the motivation to make a difference.”

Quigley has served on the board of Swarthmore College and the American University of Afghanistan, as well as various international development organizations including the Institute for Sustainable Communities in Montpelier, Vermont. He is the author of For Democracy’s Sake: Foundations and Democracy Assistance in Central Europe (Johns Hopkins University Press) and has published extensively on international and service issues, including a quarterly blog about Peace Corps and service-related issues in The Huffington Post.

With extensive experience working in international development and higher education, Quigley has a life-long interest in how education develops skills that expand opportunities, and in helping make public institutions more accountable. His doctoral dissertation explored how Thai non-governmental organizations contribute to democratic development by providing practical experience in governance and essential values of tolerance and compromise. As the first executive director of the Global Alliance for Workers and Communities, he pioneered work with global companies like Nike and The Gap, the World Bank, and various universities and community-based organizations, seeking to improve the lives of production workers.

Quigley has also served as vice president for business and policy at the Asia Society, director of public policy at the Pew Charitable Trusts, vice chairman of the Advisory Committee on Voluntary Foreign Assistance for the U.S. Agency for International Development, and legislative director to Senator John Heinz.

“The wealth of skills and experience that Kevin will bring to Marlboro, from community engagement to advocacy for the liberal arts, stand to ensure the college will sustain it’s unique place in higher education,” said Nicyper. Kevin Quigley will succeed President Ellen McCulloch-Lovell, who has been a vocal champion of the liberal arts during her 11-year tenure.