January 2025
Dear Willamette Alumni,
I hope you and your family enjoyed a wonderful winter holiday season and a happy new year.
As we begin 2025, I’m filled with excitement and enthusiasm for what lies ahead: continued learning and growth on our campuses, the completion of another academic year, Alumni Reunion Weekend in June, and the arrival of new students across all schools this fall. These important and transformative moments are among the reasons why I’ve committed to serving Willamette for at least another five years.
I want to share with you the news that Provost Carol Long will retire at the end of the 2024-25 academic year, concluding one of the most distinguished careers in Willamette University’s history.
As many of you know, Carol joined Willamette in 1972 as a professor of English, later serving as dean of the College of Liberal Arts until 2009. After spending seven years as provost and interim president at SUNY Geneseo, Carol returned to Willamette in 2016, first as interim chief academic officer and then as our inaugural provost.
(Carol in 1986)
Carol has been an instrumental partner in helping to shape Willamette’s future, working alongside our deans and faculty to create a more dynamic and sustainable university. She can be seen around campus wearing her United Nations Sustainable Development Goals lapel pin, symbolizing her dedication to preparing students to engage with today’s global challenges.
Over her remarkable 45-year tenure at Willamette, Carol has embodied our university’s values while maintaining her signature combination of relentless optimism, intellectual curiosity, and commitment to our community of students, faculty, and staff.
To celebrate Carol’s legacy, we invite you to share your favorite memories of Carol, which we’ll compile and present to her upon her retirement. On Tuesday, Jan. 28, at 6 p.m. (PST), we are also hosting Carol’s final lecture, via Zoom, on a topic of her choosing. You won’t want to miss it.
(Carol Long lectures in 1982)
Plans for a careful and thoughtful transition are already well underway, and we will share information about Willamette University’s next Provost in the next few weeks.
For now, please join me in expressing our deepest gratitude to Provost Carol Long for her exceptional service and commitment to Willamette University.
Sincerely,
Steve