Dr. Edward L. Ayers will take office July 1, 2007, as the University’s ninth president.
The Robins Center was charged with anticipation. Nearly 2,000 alumni, students, faculty and staff waited to welcome Dr. Edward Ayers, the University’s president-elect.
“This is a great day for the University of Richmond,” proclaimed University Rector George Wellde, B’74. “Ed Ayers is an outstanding teacher, a distinguished scholar and a proven leader with a vision and passion for making the University of Richmond the best it can be.”
Another prominent alumnus put Ayers’ election in baseball terms: “It’s a home run,” he said. “It’s a big home run.”
‘Fantastic leader’
Ayers will take office July 1, 2007. Until then, he will remain the Buckner W. Clay Dean of Arts & Sciences at the University of Virginia, where he has won numerous awards for teaching, scholarship and service.
Alumni, students, staff and faculty have consistently recognized his contributions to U.Va. They presented him with the Distinguished Young Teacher Award in 1986, and they gave him the Raven Award in 1993 for outstanding service to U.Va. Less than one month before he was elected president of the University of Richmond, he received the Thomas Jefferson Award, U.Va.’s highest honor.
National organizations also have recognized Ayers’ achievements. The American Historical Association presented him with the James Harvey Robinson Prize for Outstanding Aid to Teaching History in 2002. The following year, he was named U.S. Professor of the Year for doctoral and research universities by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.
As a leading scholar on the American Civil War, Ayers has written or edited nine books, including The Promise of the New South: Life After Reconstruction. The 1992 work was named the “best book on the history of American race relations and on the history of the American South.” It was a finalist for both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. Another of his books, In the Presence of Mine Enemies: War in the Heart of America, 1859–1863, won a 2004 Bancroft Prize, a top honor in the field of history.
The list of accolades is long and impressive, but Ayers remains humble and approachable, according to people who have worked for him and with him over the years.
“Ed always took time to talk with anyone who sought him out, and that was some long line of people,” says Westhampton Dean Juliette Landphair, who studied under Ayers as a graduate student at U.Va. “When you stopped by Ed’s office, he made you feel as if your conversation was the most important thing to him. He is a remarkable scholar and teacher, yet his popularity is built upon accessibility and humility.”
Richmond’s Board of Trustees elected Ayers after conducting a national search that began in January 2006. Former University Rector Robert L. Burrus Jr., R’55 and H’05, chaired a search committee that included trustees, alumni, faculty, staff and students.
“The board tasked us with identifying the best person to lead the University at this critical time in its history,” Burrus recalls. “Of all the accomplished and distinguished individuals we looked at, one stood out. I am confident that we indeed accomplished our goal.”
A native of Asheville, N.C., Ayers, 53, earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Tennessee and his master’s degree and Ph.D. in American studies at Yale University. He joined U.Va. as an assistant professor in 1980 and worked his way up to full professor in 1992. The following year, he was named the Hugh P. Kelly Professor of History. Since 2001, he has served as dean of arts and sciences—supervising 25 departments, 50-plus majors, 10,000 undergraduates, and 575 tenured and tenure-track professors. While serving as dean, he has continued to teach at least one history class per semester.
“Dean Ayers has been a visionary leader for the College of Arts & Sciences for the last five years,” says U.Va. Rector Thomas F. Farrell II. “He has been a fantastic leader at the university, and the University of Richmond’s gain is our loss.”
Edward L. Ayers
- Personal
- Born: Jan. 22, 1953, in Asheville, N.C.
- Spouse: Abby Ayers, a former teacher
- Children: Hannah, a student at William and Mary, and Nate, a recent graduate of VCU
- Education
- B.A., American Studies, University of Tennessee, 1974
- M.A., American Studies, Yale University, 1977
- Ph.D., American Studies, Yale University, 1980
- U.Va. Career
- Buckner W. Clay Dean of Arts & Sciences, 2001–present
- Hugh P. Kelly Professor of History, 1993–present
- Professor, 1992–93
- Associate Professor, 1986–92
- Assistant Professor, 1980–86
Speech! Speech!
Minutes before his introduction at the Robins Center, Ayers was granting interviews to reporters instead of rehearsing his speech. He was running out of time, but he turned no one away.
Responding to the last question, he said, “Richmond has all the ingredients to offer one of the finest educations in America. … I don’t think the University needs to find a new mission or direction. I think it needs to perfect the one that it has.”
Moments later, Ayers was making his first speech at Richmond. He began by paying homage to the enormous contributions and sacrifices that alumni and other friends of the University have made since 1830.
“This place embodies so much devotion and imagination and dedication and commitment,” he said. “From the first days till now, alumni and parents and community members have given gifts of staggering generosity.”
As a result, Richmond’s academic core is stronger than ever, he said. “The attention to students is exactly where it should be—right at the center of the mission. The emphasis on undergraduate research, on international study and on service learning shows that this University’s heart is in the right place.”
Ayers said he is impressed by Richmond’s renewed efforts to promote inclusive diversity. “Generous financial aid holds out the possibility of making this place a model for the nation—of what a truly inclusive community can look like. That’s one of the things that drew me here.”
He also praised the University’s tradition of community service, and he challenged his audience to do more “to make a difference in the city of Richmond, in the state of Virginia, in the nation and abroad. All of those places can feel the impact of the University of Richmond. All of them can know the kind of people who are a part of this community, and all of them can know that we’re eager to give back some of the wonderful gifts that have been given to us.”
Throughout his speech, Ayers recognized the accomplishments of students, faculty and staff, but he closed with a special tribute and challenge to alumni.
“The alumni,” he said, “sustain the highest aspirations for this place. And there should be no limits to our aspirations. There is no limit to how good this unique place can be. I’m eager to join you in that venture and to write our own chapter in the history of the University of Richmond.”
The crowd responded with a standing ovation.
For more information about President-elect Ayers—including a video of his Robins Center speech—visit www.richmond.edu/president-elect.
Let us know what you think about this story. Send e-mail to krhodes@richmond.edu.
