Board of Trustees Elects New President

Pamela Brooks Gann, dean of the Duke University School of Law, will become president of Claremont McKenna College, college officials announced today. A highly regarded legal scholar and academic administrator, Gann succeeds Jack L. Stark, who announced last March that he will retire in June after 29 years as president.
Gann's appointment follows an 11-month national search including more than 200 nominees. Gann will be the fourth president in the history of the 52-year-old college known for its stable leadership, dedicated faculty, and accomplished alumni.
"By every measure, Dean Gann is a leader," says Robert Lowe, chairman of the college's board of trustees and a member of the presidential search committee. "We are very pleased to have someone of her stature lead Claremont McKenna College to an even greater level of recognition and achievement."
Gann, 50, joined the law school faculty at Duke University in 1975 and has served as dean since 1988. She has taught and published in the areas of federal income taxation, international taxation and international trade and investment. A member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Gann has traveled in 24 countries and established 12 formal student exchange programs with Duke Law School. Furthermore, the school's endowment has increased eight-fold under her leadership. The top-10 law school enrolls 660 students.
Two institutes in international law, based in Geneva and Hong Kong, and new academic centers, including the Sports Law Center and the Global Capital Markets Center, have been established during her tenure as dean. Duke Law School has also become a recognized leader in the application of information technology in legal education.
"I am excited about leading a liberal arts college with the mission of educating students to be future leaders in business, government, and the professions," Gann said. "Highly selective, small liberal arts colleges set the standard for undergraduate education, and Claremont McKenna is just such an institution. I am also encouraged by the trustees' commitment to ensuring the continued excellence of the college. I look forward to working with them and with the faculty, students, and administrators in a close-knit academic community, much like that of Duke Law School, whose small size has been one of its greatest assets."
A native of Monroe, N.C., Gann is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she majored in mathematics. She earned her J.D. from Duke Law School where she was articles editor of the Duke Law Journal and a member of the Order of the Coif. She has also worked as an attorney in private practice with law firms in Atlanta and Charlotte, N.C. She is married to Duke professor William Van Alstyne, a native Californian and internationally known constitutional law scholar. They have three children.
"Claremont McKenna College will be in very good hands with Pam Gann at the helm," said Jack Stark, who will serve as president of CMC until June 30. "The search committee did an outstanding job finding the right individual to become the next president of this great college."
Claremont McKenna College is a highly selective independent liberal arts college preparing students for responsible leadership in business and public affairs. Founded in 1946 as Claremont Men's College, CMC became coeducational in 1976 and changed its name to Claremont McKenna College in 1981. CMC enrolls 1,000 students and is a member of The Claremont Colleges.