Jerry Nunnally, chairman of the Hampshire board of trustees praised Hexter's academic record. "I am thrilled to announce the appointment by the board of trustees of Ralph J. Hexter as the fifth president of Hampshire College," Nunnally said, according to the Hampshire Web site. "Dr. Hexter brings to Hampshire his extensive experience as an innovative academic administrator ... and his outstanding record of scholarly achievement in classics and comparative literature."
Trustees, faculty, staff, alumni, students and parents served on a 15-person presidential search committee which reviewed four finalists who were invited to Hampshire to speak in a series of forums that were open to the community. Chair of the presidential search committee Florence Ladd said that many distinguished professionals applied for candidacy. "Ralph Hexter's scholarly background, administrative experience and cultural interests made him an ideal candidate for the position of president of Hampshire College," he said, according to the site.
Currently serving as executive dean of the College of Letters and Science at the University of California at Berkeley, Hexter directs the 800 faculty and 500 staff members of the financial administration, human resources, external relations and development for Berkeley's liberal arts college, according to the site. Hexter is also dean of arts and humanities and professor of classics and comparative literature.
In addition to his current position, Hexter has held a variety of directorial positions with previous experience on administrative staffs at Berkeley, the University of California at Boulder and Yale University. Hexter has also acted as fellow at the Townsend Humanities Center at the University of California at Berkeley; the Whitney Humanities Center, Yale University; and the Villa I Tatti, Harvard Center for Studies in the Italian Renaissance, according to the site.
Hexter has also served as chair of the editorial board of the journal Classical Antiquity; and referee of articles for Speculum, Journal of Medieval Latin, Traditio, Helios, Classical Antiquity and book manuscripts for Oxford, Princeton, Chicago and Yale University Presses, among others. He also holds memberships in the American Philological Association and the Bay Area Advisory Board, Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry, Pacific School of Religion.
Sura Levine, associate professor of art history at Hampshire, said that all four candidates were qualified for the position, which made the presidential search particularly exciting. "We had four wonderful candidates for the presidency of Hampshire College. Each of them would have brought important skills and experiences to the job and each provoked real excitement on campus," she said, according to the site. "While I cannot speak for the faculty as a whole, I am very happy about the appointment of Ralph Hexter as our new president. He is a strong and well-respected scholar, both within academic and in the wider public sphere, he has a proven track record in fundraising, and he has already administered the College of Arts and Sciences at Berkeley-a larger entity than the faculty here at Hampshire. I look forward to being able to work with him."
Colin Richardson, an elected-student member of the search committee, said Hexter's strong character appealed to him. Richardson said that Hexter's record distinguished him from the other candidates. "I'd say first his excellent references [distinguished Hexter]," said Richardson. "He has a record of being a strong leader, a good listener and just a good person. He has excellent academic credentials."
Richardson also expressed hope that Hexter's personality would go well with the overall character of the college. "He seems like he's ready to dedicate himself to Hampshire's mission, and to me I think also his belief in social justice really meshes well with Hampshire," he said. "What can I say, everything I heard about Ralph is just excellent."
According to Richardson, one of the goals Hampshire College hopes Hexter will achieve with his presidency is to increase the college's endowment. "And to work on rededicating ourselves to our mission which I think he is ready to do," Richardson said. "I think he is ready to challenge Hampshire."
Student reaction to Hexter's appointment as president was mixed, according to Richardson. "Initial reaction was mixed ... [but] students are beginning to warm up to him," he said. "When anybody met with him one on one [they] seemed to like him a lot and believed that he would be an excellent president."