Pelton, who served as dean of the College from 1991 to 1998, accepted the position in part because Emerson is currently undergoing a significant transition, he said in an interview. The arts and communication college recently relocated from Boston's Back Bay to the edge of Boston Common to expand facilities and create a more urban campus, according to Campus Heritage Network.
"This is an amazing opportunity to invest in people and programs and to go to an institution during a moment of transition in its evolution and growth," Pelton said.
Pelton said his goals for his time at Emerson include providing faculty with the resources they need and enhancing the educational experience for students, both inside and outside the classroom. By investing in diversity and broadening student perspectives, Pelton said he hopes to foster positive interactions.
"One of my goals is to focus on the surrounding community and making community spaces," he said. "I want there to be a community of trust."
During his time at Willamette, Pelton focused on increasing diversity among students and faculty, according to the University's website. "The best students want to study where diversity is represented in several dimensions," he said. "It allows students to experience different points of view and enlarge their aesthetic horizons and intellectual discovery diversity helps to increase focus on who you are as a person."
Applications to Willamette rose from 1,800 to 8,000 during Pelton's presidency, and the University's national visibility and ranking increased, dean of campus life David Douglass said in an interview. Pelton also created four new academic centers, acquired 300 acres of forest, expanded graduate programs and developed a bridge program for economically disadvantaged and underrepresented middle and high school students, Douglass said.
"He is not just a fundraiser or an intellectual," Douglass said. "He is a rock star on campus. He holds office hours so students have a context to come and chat with him."
Pelton entered the administrative profession after deciding that it is more rewarding than the "contemplative life of a professor," a career plan he initially considered, he said.
"I'm attracted to helping organizations evolve and grow and transform themselves," he said.
Upon embarking on the search for a new president, administrators at Emerson hoped to find someone with considerable administrative experience, a history of fundraising, inclusive leadership style, knowledge of faculty governance and good listening skills, according to Maureen Shea, a performing arts professor at Emerson and search committee member. The search committee unanimously voted to appoint Pelton as president, she said.
"We wanted someone who was adventurous, imaginative, innovative, passionate about the arts and communications and the liberal arts, someone who had excellence in his or her own field," she said. "He has 12 years experience sitting as president. He had a successful capital campaign that raised $131 million for Willamette. He understood the mission of our college."
Emerson administrators, who have secured land to open a Los Angeles campus, look forward to enlisting the help of Pelton to develop the site, Shea said.
Pelton received his doctorate from Harvard Univeristy and an undergraduate degree in English and psychology from Wichita State University. He served as dean of the college at Colgate University between 1988 and 1991.
