Claremont McKenna College Presidential Search

Will Dudley named as Claremont McKenna College’s Sixth President

December 4, 2025

Dear Members of the CMC Community:

I am pleased to inform you that the Board of Trustees, on the unanimous recommendation of the Presidential Search Committee, has voted to appoint the philosopher, scholar, and sitting college president William C. Dudley as the sixth president of Claremont McKenna College and successor to President Hiram E. Chodosh, effective July 2026.

Over the course of its work, the Search Committee solicited input from students, faculty, staff, alumni, and other members of our community. A constant throughline was the importance of finding a leader who deeply understands our culture and foundational mission—to prepare students for thoughtful and productive lives and responsible leadership in business, government, and the professions—and who will continue to drive bold strategic thinking. The committee could not have found a better candidate than Will Dudley to meet this moment. He brings all the qualities that we seek: a grounding in our mission, tested presidential experience, and the vision and gusto to move us to a future of excellence.

In the words of Search Committee Member Eric Helland P’20, William F. Podlich Professor of Economics and George R. Roberts Fellow, “Will Dudley is an academic leader whose life and career have been shaped by the liberal arts, and he deeply appreciates the magnitude of our unique mission in cultivating leaders for the future. His values are perfectly aligned with our focus on excellence in teaching and in research, on making a CMC education accessible to the students who will most benefit from the experience, and to open dialogue as embodied by the Open Academy.”

Indeed, Claremont McKenna’s commitment to student leadership development and constructive dialogue on college campuses is a signature part of our vision for the future. It was important to the committee that our next president is positioned to magnify the impact of our Open Academy, modeling the belief that dialogue across differences is the cornerstone of a civil society.

A related quality that the Search Committee sought was the candidate’s ability to connect with all members of our community—students, staff, faculty, parents, donors, and alumni. Will Dudley embodies that characteristic and his background as a student athlete, a philosophy professor, and a continuously vital member of a residential academic community distinguishes him as one who will be an active contributor to our campus environment.

Search Committee Member and student Kylee Tevis ’26 observed, “As the voice for students, it was important to me that we found a leader who values building relationships with students and whose humanity shows in his interactions. Our conversations with President-elect Dudley and the experiences he shared about teaching and living on campus truly reflected this.”

Reflecting on the Board’s decision, President-elect Dudley shared, “I am honored to be selected as Claremont McKenna’s sixth president. I am inspired by the College’s founding vision that liberal arts education is the best preparation for responsible leadership and impressed by its sustained commitment to academic excellence. CMC’s mission has never been more important, and I look forward to advancing it in collaboration with students, faculty, staff, alumni, and the Board of Trustees. Carola and I are excited to move to Claremont and join the community this summer.”

Will Dudley currently serves as president of Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, where he has led since January 2017. Within the first year of his nearly decade long tenure, Will set in motion a strategic planning process with priorities including increasing student access and affordability, enriching the university’s robust liberal arts curriculum, expanding support for faculty research, investing in initiatives for civic engagement and environmental stewardship, and augmenting the physical footprint of the campus. This process culminated in the “Leading Lives of Consequence” campaign, the largest in Washington and Lee’s history, which has raised more than a half-billion dollars to date.

While Will has spent much of his academic career on the East Coast, The Claremont Colleges are no stranger to him. His great-grandfather was a 1903 graduate of Pomona College, where his great-grandmother was a biology instructor and women’s basketball coach. Will is the father of two adult children, Cole and Ella. He is married to Dr. Carola Tanna, a primary care physician and Navy veteran. An avid outdoorsman with interests in fishing, skiing, and golf, Will looks forward to continuing such activities as a member of the CMC community.

A Virginia native, Will attended Williams College, graduating magna cum laude with a double major in mathematics and philosophy. While at Williams, he was captain of the water polo team, a member of the swim team, and the recipient of a Herchel Smith Fellowship to study at Cambridge University. Following work in the private sector, he earned an M.A. and Ph.D. in philosophy at Northwestern University. He returned to Williams as a faculty member in 1998. From 2011 to 2016, Will was the provost at Williams, overseeing academic operations, allocating resources, and establishing priorities for the college’s $750 million fundraising effort, “Teach It Forward: The Campaign for Williams.”

Will’s scholarship is rooted in 19th-century German philosophy. In his current role at Washington and Lee, Will has continued to teach, offering an annual seminar on virtue ethics and liberal arts education. He is a recognized leader in higher education, serving on the boards of the Annapolis Group of Liberal Arts Colleges, the Associated Colleges of the South, and the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges.

President-elect Dudley will join the CMC community at a time of immense possibility for the College. President Chodosh’s extraordinary leadership has set CMC on a trajectory that shows no sign of slowing, and my fellow Trustees and I remain incredibly grateful to Hiram for his continued dedication and excellence throughout the remainder of this academic year.

As Search Committee member, Executive Vice President, and Chief Operating Officer Sharon Basso noted, “This is an important moment in CMC’s history—we have a strong faculty profile, a new and innovative integrated sciences model for liberal arts learning, a campus footprint that is set to double in size, and we stand on firm financial footing. Will Dudley is perfectly primed to help us build on this momentum.”

Antoine Grant ’07, Search Committee Member, Ex Officio Trustee, and President of the CMC Alumni Association, shared, “We are in a fortunate spot at CMC. We have been led by a president who has left us in an enviable position in American academia. And we welcome a president who has all the qualifications and energy to build on that legacy and help us ascend to new heights.”

The community owes a debt of gratitude to the members of the Presidential Search Committee for their thorough engagement, thoughtful deliberation, and steadfast commitment to identifying the right leader for our beloved institution. I also extend my deepest appreciation to all who attended community forums, asked questions, and provided feedback during the past year of our search process.

This spring, we look forward to warmly welcoming President-elect Dudley to campus for a visit with our community. In the meantime, I wish you a productive close out to the fall semester, and a wonderful holiday season.

Sincerely,

Ken Valach ’82
Chair, Presidential Search Committee
Chair, Board of Trustees

“We are delighted to welcome Will Dudley as President and Chief Academic Officer of CMC. His leadership and dedication to academic excellence will be tremendous assets as we strengthen our programs and enhance student success. The faculty look forward to partnering with Will to shape a shared, forward-looking vision for the College.”

—Cathy Reed P'25, McElwee Professor of Psychology and George R. Roberts Fellow

“It is rare to find an individual who embodies both principled leadership and warm collegiality. In every interaction, Will Dudley exhibited both. I think the CMC community will welcome the opportunity to learn from him, to be led by him, and to work alongside him.”

—Tina Daniels ’93, Trustee and Chair of Finance and Operations Committee

“Will’s deep intellectual curiosity, coupled with a love of the outdoors makes him a natural fit for our campus and community. I think that he will thrive as the leader of CMC.”

—Sue Matteson King ’85 P’18, Trustee, Chair, Student Affairs Committee, and Past President,
CMC Alumni Association

“CMC is well positioned to meet the myriad challenges facing small liberal arts colleges. Our unique vision of liberal arts as ideal training for practical leadership in public affairs is the right one, and Will Dudley's experience and insight make him the perfect leader to preserve, defend, and champion that vision.”

—Emily Pears ’08, Associate Professor of Government

“Will Dudley is an academic leader whose life and career have been shaped by the liberal arts, and he deeply appreciates the magnitude of our unique mission in cultivating leaders for the future. His values are perfectly aligned with our focus on excellence in teaching and in research, on making a CMC education accessible to the students who will most benefit from the experience, and to open dialogue as embodied by the Open Academy.”

—Eric Helland P’20, William F. Podlich Professor of Economics and George R. Roberts Fellow

“As the voice for students, it was important to me that we found a leader who values building relationships with students and whose humanity shows in his interactions. Our conversations with President-elect Dudley and the experiences he shared about teaching and living on campus truly reflected this.”

—Kylee Tevis ’26

“This is an important moment in CMC’s history—we have a strong faculty profile, a new and innovative integrated sciences model for liberal arts learning, a campus footprint that is set to double in size, and we stand on firm financial footing. Will Dudley is perfectly primed to help us build on this momentum.”

—Sharon Basso, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer

“We are in a fortunate spot at CMC. We have been led by a president who has left us in an enviable position in American academia. And we welcome a president who has all the qualifications and energy to build on that legacy and help us ascend to new heights.”

—Antoine Grant ’07, Ex Officio Trustee and President of the CMC Alumni Association