Dr. Stuart C. Lord Steps Down as President of Naropa University Former Naropa President John Whitehouse Cobb named as Acting President

BOULDER, Colo. (October 6, 2011)—Naropa University announces that Dr. Stuart C. Lord will be resigning as President of the University effective December 31, 2011. Dr. Lord has made the difficult decision to leave the University due to family considerations. In a statement Dr. Lord extended his sincere appreciation to the Naropa community for the support, guidance and collegiality provided to him during his time as President of the University. After the transition, the University is pleased to announce that Dr. Lord has agreed to remain with the University as a member of Naropa’s distinguished faculty for the remainder of this academic year, the details of which are still being worked out.

The Board of Trustees has appointed John Whitehouse Cobb, former President of Naropa University from 1993 – 2003 to serve as Acting President. Mr. Cobb will begin his interim service on October 17, 2011. As Acting President Mr. Cobb will, among other things, work with Dr. Lord to assure a smooth transition and will oversee the national search for Naropa’s next President.

Dr. Stuart C. Lord, a nationally recognized expert in service learning, multicultural and spiritual education, leadership and ethics, became Naropa’s fifth president on July 1, 2009. As president of Naropa University, Dr. Lord successfully instituted a balanced budget initiative, led the Higher Learning Commission reaccreditation process, as well as the administrative and academic reorganization that is aligning the University with its long term strategic plans.

“We thank Dr. Lord for his dedicated service to the Naropa University community over the last two years,” stated Charles Lief, Chair of the Naropa Board of Trustees. “During his leadership, he fostered the growth and advancement of our community. We offer our gratitude for his service and wish him success.”

John Whitehouse Cobb graduated from Harvard College in 1966 and Columbia Law School in 1969. He worked as a VISTA lawyer with Colorado Rural Legal Services, primarily with indigent clients and migrant farm workers. He continued to work in the public sector for Navajo Legal Services in New Mexico and Pine Tree Legal Assistance in Bangor, ME, from 1980–83. He served as Director of Colorado Coalition of Legal Services Programs and Western Regional Training Center in Denver from 1980–83 and then was in private practice in Boulder for ten years.

John was appointed president of Naropa University in 1993 and served until 2003. He also served on Naropa’s Board of Trustees since 1985. He designed and taught a course in leadership in Naropa’s Environmental Leadership Program, and also taught “Freedom is Just Another Word: The Evolution of the Bill of Rights” at Naropa. He is a prolific poet in his spare time. Cobb is the author of Footnotes to the Inexplicable: A Memoir in Verse. Since leaving the presidency, Bayard and John have been actively involved in the establishment of the Peace Studies degree at Naropa and their support led the Board of Trustees to create the Bayard and John Cobb Annual Peace Lecture.

Naropa University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and a member of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. Naropa University is a private, nonprofit, nonsectarian liberal arts institution dedicated to advancing contemplative education. This approach to learning integrates the best of Eastern and Western educational traditions, helping students know themselves more deeply and engage constructively with others. The university comprises a four-year undergraduate college and graduate programs in the arts, education, environmental leadership, psychology and religious studies.

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