Hired
Ian Baucom – Middlebury College (Vt.)

Ian Baucom, the current provost and executive vice president of the University of Virginia, has been selected to lead Middlebury College beginning July.
Lauded for his leadership in the liberal arts, Baucom serves as the Robert C. Taylor Professor of English at Virginia and previously served as dean of its College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences for eight years. He also has served as chair of the English department at Duke University and headed various scholarly organizations centered on the humanities.
Baucom’s efforts to champion higher education to produce civic-minded citizens fits well with the mission at his new institution, he said. “Middlebury embodies the world-gathering capacity of collegiate life at its finest.”
Doug Binsfeld – Northern Maine Community College
The Main Community College System president and board of trustees have announced their approval of hiring Doug Binsfeld to head Northern Maine Community College. Binsfeld currently serves as the vice president for academic and student affairs at Upper Iowa University, 8 WAGM reports.
Robert Pepper – Huntington University (Ind.)
Robert Pepper has been tapped as the 14th president of Huntington University, which will begin the leadership transition process sometime around the end of the 2024-25 academic year.
Pepper has enjoyed a long professional career at Messiah University in Pennsylvania, where he began as a residence hall director. Now after three decades he serves as the executive director and assistant to the president for innovation and university partnerships.
Stepping down
Gilda Barabino – Olin College of Engineering (Mass.)
President Gilda Barabino announced she will be stepping down to a faculty position at Olin College of Engineering following continued financial strain.
More from UB: Financial stability: How colleges are trying to assure survival
The school’s second-ever president, Barabino had to make a number of difficult decisions to preserve the institution’s operation amid the pandemic, which included reducing its merit-based scholarship. Olin was founded thanks to a $460 million grant from a now-defunct foundation, and its highly selective, small enrollment sizes hinder its tuition revenue, WBUR reports.

Stuart Bell – University of Alabama
President Stuart Bell announced he is planning to step down from the University of Alabama around the middle of summer, following 10 years of leadership. Of the 29 presidents to have served the state’s flagship, only two have served longer tenures than Bell.
“Collectively, we have witnessed record-breaking successes and as our university continues its positive trajectory, the moment is right to initiate the completion of my tenure as president,” Bell said in a statement.
The University of Alabama has enjoyed widespread success under Bell, breaking records in in-state enrollment, second-year retention rates and fundraising. One 10-year fundraising campaign is on track to generate $1.8 billion by 2026. As for campus expansion, 26 facilities have been built and 60 renovated.
Suzanne Walsh – Bennett College (N.C.)
Bennett College President Suzanne Walsh will be stepping down on June 30 following six years in the position. Under Walsh, the HBCU changed accreditors and transitioned away from the traditional 16-week semester model. The adoption of the “minimester model” has increased students retention over 85% for the past four years, beating national rates and Bennett’s previous averages, according to the university.
Ed Wingenbach – Hampshire College (Mass.)

President Ed Wingenbach will be stepping down from Hampshire College at the end of June to lead the American College of Greece, the oldest U.S.-accredited higher education institution in Europe.
Since arriving in 2019, Wingenbach reversed course on the institution’s plans to seek a merger or acquisition and has significantly increased enrollment and its financial position, placing the institution to achieve financial balance by 2027. Enrollment has grown by 60% since 2020, and he’s helped Hampshire secure over $110 million in funding through fundraising campaign and state and federal funds, according to a press release.
Hampshire College also made waves in 2023 when it offered admission to students wishing to transfer from New College of Florida following a conservative-backed leadership takeover.