Best of 1998
December 3,1998
21
Trustees name Lambert
eighth president
Elon College paved the way
for the future Wednesday when the
Board of Trustees unanimously
voted Leo Lambert as the college’s
eighth president.
Lambert, 43, is currently serv
ing as the provost and vice chancel
lor for academic affairs at the Uni
versity of Wisconsin-La Crosse. He
will assume the position of presi
dent on January 1.
“Dr. Lambert possesses the
academic and senior leadership ex
perience which qualify him to lead
the institution into the 21st cen
tury,” Robert LaRose, chairman of
the Board of Trustees said.
“He has built an outstanding
reputation as one of America’s top
administrators and will foster a cli
mate of excellence as we build on
Elon’s reputation as one of the pre
mier undergraduate institutions on
the Eastern Seaboard.”
Lambert, who was recently
named an outstanding leader in
American higher education by
Change magazine, graduated cum
laude with a bachelor’s degree in
English from State University of
New York at Geneseo and received
his master’s of education from the
University of Vermont. He was
awarded a doctorate in education
from Syracuse University.
At La Crosse, Lambert is a
strong supporter of international
education and has encouraged both
student and faculty exchanges in
China, Russia, Germany and
Mexico. He is also a strong sup
porter of undergraduate research.
Lambert is a noted author on
subjects pertaining to higher educa
tion and has co-edited three Ameri
can Association of Higher Educa
tion volumes on school-college part
nerships.
Lambert describes the con
nection with Elon to be a perfect
match, both for him and his family.
“It feels very right in our
hearts to be here,” he said.
While he is honored to have
been chosen as the next president,
Lambert said the most overwhelm
ing feeling he has is one of humble
ness.
“It (Elon) is a treasure of an
institution, and it is a great deal of
responsibility to take this office. It
is an office that I take with the
utmost seriousness.
“It is also humbling to follow
in the footsteps of two longstanding
and absolutely brilliant past presi
dents.”
Lambert said, “One of the
factors that attracted me to the Elon
presidency is the institution’s com
mitment to innovation in the cur
riculum and in teaching.”
He also said he was attracted
by the sense of community he feels
on the campus.
“My sense from talking to
people is
that fac
ulty, stu-
dents,
staff.
Trustees
all believe
that they
have a real
voice in
the direc
tion in
which the
college is
going to
be mov
ing in the
future and
I really
believe in
that kind
of com-
munity-based planning.”
Lambert said that Elon has
gained national attention as one of
the most improved institutions of
higher education in the past 15 years.
“This is a remarkable mark in
terms of how quickly Elon has pro
rni f vnv
gressed forward and you can liter
ally feel the momentum when
you’re on campus,” he said.
Wednesday night, current
President Fred Young and Lambert
met to start discussing the transi
tion period.
“Fred
(Young) has
already been
the most gra
cious mentor
that a new
president
could have,”
Lambert said.
“Presi
dent Young is
leaving Elon
College in a
position of
strength and
vitality. This
is an enor
mously won
derful institu
tion due in
large measure
to the leadership that he has pro
vided and I think the institution is
going to move very confidently into
the 21 St century because of his lead
ership.”
Lambert has no real plans for
Elon’s future yet.
Faculty and friends remember A1 Carpenter
When Elon College faculty
and staff talk about math and com
puter science professor A1 Carpen
ter the word devoted is often used.
“He was fully devoted to his
students and the college,” said Ri
chard McBride, the college chap
lain.
Carpenter, 45, passed away
Saturday night after being hospital
ized Thursday with a cerebral hem
orrhage, or bleeding in the brain.
His co-workers say Carpen
ter was very dedicated to the col
lege and to the students he worked
with.
“A1 was the most devoted fac
ulty member I’ve ever know,” said
Rosalind Reichard, the dean of math
and sciences.
“He lived and breathed Elon
and teaching.”
Richard Haworth, a profes
sor of mathematics, describes Car
penter as “passionate and commit
ted to what he thought was impor
tant in the
lives of the
students
and the life
of the col
lege. He
wanted to
see stu
dents com
mitted to
t h e m -
selves as
learners
and re
spectable
human be
ings.”
Carpenter, who has been at
Elon since 1983, had a reputation
for excellent teaching and for car
ing for his students. This reputation
helped him to win the Daniels-
Panieley award, Elon’s highest
honor for teaching, in
1989.
“This speaks very
highly of his ability,” said
former Elon professor
Joyce Speas, who knew
Carpenter well.
“Both students and
faculty thought highly of
him.”
Carpenter was also
instrumental in the cre
ation of April’s Aca
demic Summit and
played a key role in the
Summit’s success.
“He was one of the ones to
raise the issue of academic stan
dards and high expectations,” said
Vice President of Academic Af-
“Initialiy what I want to do is
listen and learn,” he said.
Lambert also plans on finish
ing the Elon Vision as it stands now
before taking the college into the
future.
“I think the most immediate
task at hand is to finish the Elon
Vision, which I think is an enor
mously creative vision that is going
to lead to enhanced academic pro
grams. It will complete aprogram of
just absolutely beautiful facilities...
and I want to finish that first and use
that time to think very creatively
and expansively about what the next
step is.”
Lambert plans to make sev
eral visits to the college between
now and January, when he, his wife
Laurie, and two daughters, Callie,
13, and Mollie, 10, will move into
Maynard House.
Lambert is very involved in
the community of La Crosse and
plans on becoming as involved in
the Burlington area.
“I think the first thing we will
probably do (as a family) is make
sure our daughters are well-estab
lished in activities here.”
This article originally ap
peared in the October 15 Special
Edition.
fairs Julianne Maher.
“It was really his determina
tion to keep asking the questions,”
that helped create the Summit,
Maher added.
There was more to Carpenter
than what was seen inside the class
room, though.
“I don’t want to use the word
‘workaholic’ because that doesn’t
describe Al,” said McBride.
Carpenter was extremely in
volved with the Elon College Com
munity Church and taught Sunday
school. He also played tennis and
was taking ballroom dancing les
sons.
“I guess the thing that struck
me most about him is that he was so
unassuming,” said Speas.
Friends also describe Carpen
ter as being caring. Reichard men
tioned that he used to walk her to
her car when they were both work
ing late in Whitley Building just to
make sure she was safe.
“Speaking for students, I think
we all thought he was a great guy,”
said Eric Hurwitt, one of the stu
dents who coordinated the Academic
Summit with Carpenter.
Carpenter’s funeral will be
held Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Elon
College Community Church. Visi
tation will be held from 6 to 9 p.m.
on Friday at Rich & Thompson Fu
neral Service on South Church
Street.
Memorials may be made to
Elon College for a computer sci
ence scholarship in Carpenter’s
memory, or to the Hardesty Mission
Fund at the Elon College Commu
nity Church.
This article originally ap
peared in the November 19 issue.