Trustees of Grinnell College Announce Contract Extension for President Anne F. Harris

The Trustees of Grinnell College announced today that they have entered a five-year contract extension with President Anne F. Harris. Under this contract, her service to the College will extend through June 30, 2030.

“President Harris is an exceptional leader who has guided Grinnell through five years of varied challenges to create a vision for a place where academic excellence, civic engagement, and human connection thrive. Her first five years have been characterized by broad collaboration and a focus on how the College is experienced by students, faculty, staff, alumni and the broader community, as well as focused efforts to present Grinnell’s position as a global college in a rural setting with a national voice to the world,” said Michael Kahn ‘74, Chair of the Board of Trustees. “We are pleased to secure her leadership of the College by extending her contract for an additional five years.”

President Harris joined the College in 2019 as vice president for academic affairs and dean of the College and was named as Grinnell’s 14th president on July 14, 2020. Her work is shaped by a principle she articulates as “civic trust,” which addresses how trust is built and sustained between individuals, between individuals and institutions, and between institutions. She believes that liberal arts education prepares individuals for civic engagement and a lifetime of defining and contributing to the common good. 

“I believe in Grinnell wholeheartedly and am honored and excited to have the opportunity to continue to give its vibrant community the best of my energies, abilities, and love. Grinnell College matters; it is the greatest joy to work with brilliant students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends of the College from all over the world to amplify its excellence and voice, address complex challenges in partnership, and live and learn in the multiplicity of our community,” said Harris.

President Harris’ many accomplishments include:

• Working with the College’s Board of Trustees and stakeholders across campus, she led Grinnell in enacting a “no loan” financial aid policy that allows Grinnell students to graduate without student loan debt;
• Dedicating and opening of Renfrow Hall, named after Grinnell alumna and pioneering educator Edith Renfrow Smith ’37. The residence hall, located between the College and downtown Grinnell, includes the Katherine Howell Weingart ’61 Civic Innovation Pavilion designed for collaboration and community use, will serve as a hub for student-led civic engagement programming and coalition building.
• Leading a broad strategic planning process that combined insight from multiple studies, campus-wide and small group discussions, individual interviews, on-campus workshops, and contributions from divisions and departments, culminating in Knowledge into Action, approved by the Board of Trustees in October 2023. The plan empowers constituents of the College to be catalysts for educational excellence, foster belonging and connection, work to create collective equity, and find shared goals and common ground in the College’s connection to society and the common good. 
• Working with academic affairs and the faculty to establish 10 new tenure-track positions, including an endowed chair in African Diaspora Studies, to further invest in the academic excellence of the College;
• Placing a renewed emphasis on the power of philanthropy to impact academic excellence and the student experience, demonstrating the strength of our community in growing support of the College;
• Championing Global Grinnell and the rich opportunities for learning from and with an international community on a residential campus and through off campus study;
• Engaging with the national conversation on freedom of speech through participation in programs such as College Presidents for Civic Preparedness, and empowering dialogue and opportunities for community and college collaboration based on the democratic principle voiced by political philosopher Danielle Allen of “trustful talk between strangers,” seeing in Grinnell a model.

As dean, President Harris led initiatives to complement the excellence of the College’s academic programs and to enhance the health and well-being of the Grinnell community. She co-directed the College’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, supported the development and implementation of a First Year Experience, chaired the search for a chief diversity officer, and oversaw the implementation of a $1 million Mellon Foundation Humanities in Action grant.

She is a member of the NCAA Division III Chancellors/Presidents Advisory Group and the Midwest Conference Executive Committee, and the Chair of the Midwest Conference Presidents’ Council. In addition to serving on the Board of Trustees for the College of the Holy Cross, she also serves on the Associated Colleges of the Midwest Executive Committee, and chairs the SEED Coalition, strengthening education for an engaged democracy (formerly, Iowa and Minnesota Campus Compact Board). In Iowa, she serves on the Des Moines Capital Crossroads Advisory Council, and on the executive committee of the Iowa Association of Independent Colleges and Universities.

Prior to coming to Grinnell, President Harris spent more than 20 years at DePauw University, serving in faculty leadership roles and eventually as vice president for academic affairs. Throughout her career she has made her mark as an energetic, respected leader, and as a gifted art history scholar, teacher, and mentor. She holds a bachelor’s degree in art history and classical languages from Agnes Scott College, and master’s and doctoral degrees in art history with a specialization in medieval art history from the University of Chicago. In 2021, she co-authored, with her long-time friend and collaborator Nancy Thompson (St. Olaf) Medieval Art 250-1450; Matter, Making, and Meaning (Oxford University Press).