‘Doah photo by Ubi Abdul-Jawad

Shelby Dehaven, ‘Doah Staff Writer
January 23, 2013

Bryon Grigsby, the current senior vice president and vice president for academic affairs, has been named the 16^th President of Moravian College and Moravian Theological Seminary in Bethlehem, Pa. The announcement was made through a press release published by Moravian College on Dec. 20. Grigsby is a 1990 graduate of the school.

Succeeding Dr. Christopher M. Thomforde, Grigsby will begin his presidency in July of 2013. His goals for his presidency include creating some type of technology program, furthering their mission trips and developing academic programs that both meet societal needs and that are the best in class. Grigsby also says that Moravian is “in a $45 million capital campaign for a new science building and renovations to its signature building, Comenius Hall.” He stresses that connecting with his fellow alumni will be essential to meeting the campaign goals.

Grigsby hopes that the relationships he has built with the faculty and fellow administrators will continue, and that partnerships between Moravian and Shenandoah can be formed. “I would like to be able to provide Shenandoah with students who are seeking graduate programs, as well as leveraging the religious community so that we can do mission trips which are so very important to student growth and development. I hope to see Shenandoah to continue to shine and grow. This is a truly wonderful school with creative students, outstanding leaders, engaged faculty and supportive staff.”

Grigsby believes that his greatest achievement at S.U. was the iMLearning Program. This program allows all students and faculty to have MacBook Pros and an iPhone, iPod or iPad. “The true power of this program comes from students being able to help other students with technology,” says Grigsby. He is also extremely proud of the Pharmacogenomics and Music and Recording Technology programs for being selected two years in a row as Apple Standout Programs. As well, this year, S.U. was selected as a Standout University. “It is wonderful to see all the hard work of the faculty pay off through this recognition.”

With S.U. now in need of a new vice president, the president will select a group of stakeholders to form a hiring committee. “There will be a national search advertised through The Chronicle of Higher Education and other media,” Grigsby explains. After reviewing the letters of interest and resumes, the committee will bring a slate of candidates to campus for interviews. The candidates will meet with faculty, staff, administrators and students during this time. Ideally, a person will be announced by April, in order for him or her to begin in July.