 Media Kit Press Release, Biography, Shimer at a Glance |  | | | | | | COMMENTS FROM OTHERS |  |
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 | Susan Henking fits Shimer perfectly--and Shimer fits her. She will find an administration that works collaboratively, a world-class faculty, an engaged alumni, and the bright students we’ve always attracted. We will find a rare leader whose energy, ambition, and authenticity will make Shimer an ever greater institution."
Edward J. Noonan, Shimer President (current)
| | Susan Henking is a superb scholar, teacher, and leader in higher education, who is ideally suited to become the next president of Shimer College. She is articulate and knowledgeable about the Great Books, and she has the sophistication, analytical talents, and energy to be a great president. The Board of Trustees is delighted at her appointment and we look forward to a brilliant future for Shimer under her leadership."
Robert O. Keohane, B.A. ’61, Chair, Presidential Search Committee; Professor of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University
| | The appointment of Dr. Henking as President of Shimer College will affirm for Chicago the importance of the liberal arts in business. As issues of social responsibility emerge alongside economic trends, a person who can speak to both issues becomes increasingly necessary. Being a scholar of enduring questions, Dr Henking is committed to the integration of ideas that build civic, financial, and social responsibility."
Peter Hanig, B.A. ’71, Member, Presidential Search Committee; President, Hanig’s Footwear
| | Susan Henking shows all the promise that Shimer deserves in its next President. Yes, she has a great record as a scholar and administrator, but she also got overwhelmingly positive reviews from those who met and heard her speak during her campus visit. In other words, she's a natural leader with the skills and experience she needs to fill that role. We all look forward to working with her here and helping her achieve what we all know Shimer is capable of as a school."
Stuart Patterson, Member, Presidential Search Committee; Associate Professor of the Liberal Arts
| | I have the greatest optimism about Dr. Henking’s future as well as Shimer College’s. From the first contact she seemed ideal for the role. It will be exciting knowing her as an educator and administrator. Additionally, I know she will be warmly welcomed in the educational community of Chicago and Illinois. With Dr. Henking as our president, I look forward to seeing Shimer’s reputation as a provider of a first-class education claim its deserved place in the city of Chicago and beyond."
Robert Kruse ’12, Member, Presidential Search Committee; Weekend Program Student Representative
| | Our president was picked not only because of her spectacular credentials and experience but also because of the overwhelming positive response from the community. Her connection with our community is undeniable, and I know everyone will flourish in the coming years."
Alexandra Rosenberg, ’13, Member, Presidential Search Committee; Weekday Program Student Representative
| | Dr. Henking's intellectual orientation, administrative experience, and obvious fit with the Shimer community made her an excellent candidate for the Presidency. All of us look forward to enthusiastically welcoming her to Shimer."
David Shiner, Member, Presidential Search Committee; Professor of Humanities and the History of Ideas
| | From its formation last May, the Shimer Presidential Search Committee was committed to identifying a next President that would maintain the College's high intellectual qualities and cohesiveness as a campus community while providing visionary leadership as the institution continues to undergo significant growth and transformation. Throughout the search process, Dr. Susan Henking rose to the top of the candidate pool as someone who possessed the education, experience, and connection to Shimer's distinctive Great Books educational mission for success. Students, faculty, staff, Board members, alums, and friends of the College are enthusiastic about her selection and look forward to her presidency."
B David Galt, Executive Secretary, Presidential Search Committee; Vice President for Enrollment Management & Student Services/Dean of Students
| | Susan Henking's experience in higher education is broad and deep. As we learned during her extended visit to Shimer, she is a woman of vision and considerable intelligence. The anticipation on campus surrounding her presidency is palpable. This is an exciting time for Shimer, and there is every reason to be optimistic about our future under a Henking presidency."
Philip Farina ’73, Member, Presidential Search Committee; Vice Chair, Board of Trustees
| | Susan Henking is a strong academic and leader in higher education. She has a deep understanding of the Great Books and the values a liberal arts education. From the beginning she demonstrated a strong analytical ability and addressed her vision for Shimer College. Her enthusiasm for Shimer is palpable and she is embracing the collaborative governance of the school. The Board, faculty, staff and students are all excited to welcome our new president."
Edie Barschi B.A. ‘77, Member, Presidential Search Committee
| | Susan Henking is a fine administrator with a leadership style that is especially suitable for Shimer College. We were repeatedly impressed by her insightful comments and suggestions about the challenges facing the college. She also struck us as the type of leader who would roll up her sleeves to work side-by-side with her directors and guide Shimer through its challenges. We have every confidence that Dr. Henking is the right person to lead Shimer, particularly in this exciting moment of change and growth."
Rebecca Sundin B.A. ‘99, Member, Presidential Search Committee
| | Susan Henking’s passion and dedication as a leader in higher education have had a lasting impact on students, faculty, administrators, and colleagues alike. Like Robert Hutchins, on whose Great Books curriculum Shimer's is based, Susan believes that we must continuously reassess tradition to bring it into context with contemporary challenges. And like Hutchins, Susan is invigorated by an education whose central mission is vitality: an education that animates curiosity, sparks innovation, and inspires service in a diverse global society. We are extraordinarily fortunate to have attracted a leader of Dr. Henking’s caliber. She is the ideal person to lead Shimer into a new era of achievement and distinction."
Sally Brown, ‘65, Chair of the Board of Trustees
| | Shimer College could not have selected a better candidate whose professional life has been characterized by innovative leadership, an inquisitive mind, and engagement with the big issues of the world, all done with a glint of deep pleasure in her eyes."
Caryn McTighe Musil, Senior Vice President, Association of American Colleges and Universities
| | I am delighted to hear that Professor Susan Henking will be returning to Chicago as the 14th President of Shimer College. A doctoral graduate of the University of Chicago Divinity School who has been a leader at Hobart and William Smith Colleges for over twenty years, Prof. Henking knows well the worlds of higher education and the city of Chicago. I wish her and Shimer much success in these exciting years ahead."
Margaret M. Mitchell, Dean of the Divinity School, Shailer Mathews Professor of New Testament and Early Christian Literature, The University of Chicago
| | Dr. Henking’s appointment as the President of Shimer College will lead to the continued growth of Shimer as a vital part of Chicago’s academic community. I particularly look forward to developing additional partnerships between IIT and Shimer."
Alan Cramb, Provost, Illinois Institute of Technology
| | I commend the trustees in appointing Dr. Henking as president--a leader with a keen intellect who will enthusiastically advance the Shimer College mission."
Peggy Ryan Williams, President Emerita, Ithaca College
| | Susan Henking's passion for liberal arts, her empowering leadership style, and her commitment to intellectual and moral conversation will be a wonderful fit for Shimer College."
Rebecca Chopp, President, Swarthmore College
| | Susan Henking is a gifted leader who successfully brings together diverse groups together in achieving academic excellence and flourishing communities. Susan possesses a remarkable understanding of the enduring texts of many different cultures, and she is skilled at helping learners identify their direct relevance for their lives and practice. She will be a national leader as well as a celebrated president at Shimer."
Richard Guarasci, President, Wagner College
| | I want to Congratulate the leadership of Shimer College for selecting Dr. Susan Henking as its next president. Those of us who got to work with Susan during her year as an Academic Council on Education Fellow at PASSHE were impressed by her rare combination of leadership capabilities and her commitment to academic excellence. I know that the experience she had here in seeing all aspects of academic, financial, and administrative leadership will serve her well."
John C. Cavanaugh, Ph.D., Chancellor, Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education
| | In her year with PASSHE, I found Susan’s ability to bring unique perspectives to issues and develop consensus around creative solutions invaluable. Her quiet, natural ability to lead shines through in all that she does and will serve Shimer College well."
Dr. Peter Garland, Executive Vice Chancellor, Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education
| | Susan is an outstanding leader with an impressive breadth of knowledge about the challenges facing American higher education. She brought great insight and energy to her time as an ACE Fellow and I know she’ll do the same for Shimer Colleges."
Sharon A. McDade, Director of the American Council on Education Emerging Leaders Group and ACE Fellows Program
| | I think Shimer College has made a superb selection for its next president. Not only is Susan a wonderful colleague, thoughtful academic, and accessible mentor, she brings a passion for diversity, critical thinking, and interdisciplinarity that will serve Shimer well in its future development as a liberal arts institution. With a strong grounding in the foundational books of liberal arts, Susan will push the campus to face difficult questions, to rethink basic assumptions, and to actively engage in the communities and with the challenges that surround them."
DeWayne Lucas, Ph.D.Chair, Committee on Academic Affairs Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Political Science at Hobart and William Smith Colleges
| | Susan has left an indelible mark on the Colleges, the department of Religious Studies, and most of all on her students. What most impresses me about her is her indefatigable interventions on behalf of principle and the rights of all. When I think of Susan I think of integrity and principle. Her words are ample, courageous, original and varied, nurtured by an immense culture—literary, social scientific, historical, philosophical ,culinary—inspired by an abiding faith in human potential and equity. Susan holds a special place in the minds of students and the entire HWS Colleges community. She occupies a place apart, recognized for her intellectual inspiration at every stage of her career from young assistant professor to senior mentor to dedicated and effective administrator. For two decades, Susan, more than many of the other brilliant colleagues who labored with her, defined this community of teachers and scholars. All good teaching, Martin Buber once said, is a pointing, a gesture urging us towards the object of cognition. For many of us, Susan was that 'pointer.' Her greatest gift is as a teacher and it takes the form of worrying about the Other, a spending without an accounting, a generosity, a love for and sense of obligation to others always expressed in joy and in good humor. In that sense she has been our teacher, our mentor who constantly 'pointed' us in the direction that we knew we wanted to follow but often did not know the path."
Michael Dobkowski, Professor of Religious Studies at Hobart and William Smith Colleges
| | Professor Susan Henking is a wonderful colleague and a superb mentor. Her role as a mentor fascinates me most. As I have interacted with her at both personal and professional levels, I have witnessed her enthusiasm to engage with diverse issues and navigate ways to negotiate solutions. Professor Henking voices her agreement and disagreement on issues that matter most to academic communities in a poised manner pointing to the common goal of all of us in the academe: to teach students a life of consequence. Professor Henking is also passionate about issues common to diverse groups, especially equity and justice. She sees in people their utmost potentials and she is very good at bringing them out. Her voice as a leader in our department and faculty meetings will be missed by many of us. Professor Henking’s voice, however, has found a bigger audience, or rather, Shimer College has found her."
Etin Anwar, Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Hobart and William Smith Colleges
| | Congratulations to Professor Susan Henking on her appointment as 14thpresident of Shimer College. A friend and valued colleague, Susan will bring a new vitality to Shimer College. We will miss her in all the ways one misses a passionate and inspirational friend: a colleague of wisdom, dedication, integrity, and humor. Bravo Shimer!"
Katherine D. Elliott ’66, L.H.D. ’08, Vice Chair of the Hobart and William Smith Colleges Board of Trustees
| | Professor Henking has been a valued and active member of the faculty of Hobart and William Smith Colleges for many years. We will miss her insight and perspective. Shimer’s gain is our loss."
Maureen C. Zupan, Former Vice Chair of the Hobart and William Smith Colleges Board of Trustees
| | Books have been my sister's passion since we were small children going to the library with our mother. I remember asking her once what her goals are in the classroom and she told me she wants her students to fall in love with reading. She is the embodiment of advice from my own teacher, Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel, who often says that it 'does not matter what books you write; it matters what books you read.' Regardless of what I ask her, she produces a bibliography, whether I have asked her how to cook a roast, how to interpret social issues, or what to make of a current movie. There is nowhere she would be better suited than a great books college."
Patricia E. Henking, Vicar, Faith Episcopal Church, Merrimack, NH, Sister of Susan Henking
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