In a Dec. 16 letter addressed to the Williams College community, College President Morton Owen Schapiro announced that he would be leaving the Purple Valley at the end of the school year to become the 16th President of Northwestern University. “This was not an easy decision for my family and me to make,” he wrote. “Twenty of my 30 years in academe have been spent at Williams and I’ve loved virtually every minute. The past nine as president have been the greatest honor and privilege of my professional life.”

Schapiro leaves a lasting legacy of a tenure filled with professional honors and accomplishments that have improved Williams in many ways. In a public statement, Greg Avis, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees, noted that his initiatives have “[expanded] the faculty, reduced class size and improved the quality of the classroom experience.”

As for choosing Schapiro’s successor, a special search committee has been formed with Avis at its helm. It consists of six trustees, five faculty and staff members, two students, two alumni and a secretary. According to Avis, the committee’s duty is to “[identify] the candidates best suited to lead Williams and to present a short list of nominees to the Board of Trustees, which makes the final selection.” The committee hopes the final selection will take place by the summer and is presently interviewing search firms for assistance in the overall selection process.