Marvin Krislov Named Oberlin President

Dear Members of the Oberlin College Community:

I am pleased to announce that Marvin Krislov has been named the 14th president of Oberlin College. He will take office on July 1, 2007, at the conclusion of Nancy Dye’s 13th year as Oberlin’s president, and will make the transition to Oberlin during the months of July and August. He will be on campus full time beginning August 6.

Mr. Krislov is superbly qualified to provide outstanding leadership that celebrates and builds on Oberlin’s distinctive strengths and core values and furthers its mission of achieving academic, artistic, and musical excellence. The level of distinction Mr. Krislov has achieved in his education and throughout his career reflects his consistent expectation of excellence and his leadership in addressing social and ethical concerns.

For the last nine years, Mr. Krislov has served as Vice President and General Counsel of the University of Michigan and as a member of the President’s Cabinet. He spearheaded the recent landmark University of Michigan cases in which the United States Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of diversity considerations in college and university admissions.

As an adjunct professor at Michigan, Mr. Krislov taught two undergraduate courses each year in the Department of Political Science, a seminar in the university’s law school, and a course in its Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy Summer Program. He served on a variety of academically oriented boards within the university and was co-chair of the President’s Initiative on Ethics in Public Life, a major interdisciplinary initiative to integrate academic study with ethics-related issues in society.

Prior to his arrival at Michigan, Mr. Krislov served as Acting Solicitor (the third ranking department official) and Deputy Solicitor for National Operations at the U.S. Department of Labor in Washington, D.C. There, he oversaw a department with 700 employees with a budget of over $70 million. Prior to that, Mr. Krislov served as Associate Counsel to the President in the White House Counsel’s Office. A 1982 graduate of Yale University, he is a Rhodes Scholar and was awarded a master’s degree from Oxford and his Juris Doctor from Yale.

Mr. Krislov and his wife, Amy Sheon, a biomedical researcher, have three children: Zachary, 14; Jesse, 9; and Evie Rose, 6. They have been deeply involved in their local communities and look forward to becoming so in Oberlin.

Mr. Krislov’s appointment culminates a rigorous eight-month-long search process. At each stage of the search, we benefited from the thoughtful input of our engaged, spirited, and caring community.  I am grateful for the outstanding contribution and commitment of the members of the Presidential Search Committee who served with me: vice chair Victor Hymes, Bob Frascino, Erik Inglis, Joe Karlgaard, Courtney Merrell, Bill Robinson, Wendell Russell, Susan Troy, Tim Weiss, and Danette Wineberg. I’d also like to thank our search consultant, Tom Courtice of Academic Search, and Jane Mathison and Bobbie Sajovec who provided administrative support to the Committee.

The Board invites everyone associated with Oberlin to join in welcoming Marvin Krislov and his family to our community.

Sincerely,

Robert S. Lemle
Chair, Board of Trustees
Chair, Presidential Search Committee