Adam S. Weinberg

20th President of Denison University

Adam Weinberg became the 20th president of Denison University in 2013. Dr. Weinberg has focused on positioning Denison in ways that address the major issues facing higher education in the 21st century, including affordability, career readiness, internationalization, civic education, learning outcomes, and social inclusion.

Under Dr. Weinberg’s leadership, Denison has expanded the curriculum with a new generation of academic programs, global programs, and a deepening of the arts, including the construction of the Michael D. Eisner Center for the Performing Arts. Denison’s new programs in Global Commerce, Data Analytics, Financial Economics, Journalism, and Health, Exercise and Sports Studies are forging new pathways for the liberal arts.

A second major area of emphasis has been career exploration. Denison has launched the Austin E. Knowlton Center for Career Exploration, which is reinventing how liberal arts colleges prepare students for careers and professions. For this work, Dr. Weinberg was recognized by the National Association of Colleges and Employers for innovation with the inaugural 2017 Career Services Champion Award. Dr. Weinberg is heavily involved in national conversations about career preparation through his work with The Council on Competitiveness and The Columbus Partnership.

Dr. Weinberg’s intellectual roots are in the civic impacts of higher education in unlocking the potential of individuals and communities. He has brought this passion to Denison where work is underway to focus on residential halls as sites for civic learning, and the recently launched Red Frame Lab for design thinking. Underlying this work, Dr. Weinberg has focused Denison on a campus-wide effort to deepen mentorship, which he believes is the defining feature of transformative education.

Prior to coming to Denison, Dr. Weinberg served as president and CEO of World Learning, where he led education programs in more than 70 countries. Dr. Weinberg started his career at Colgate University (1995 through 2005), where he was a member of the sociology and anthropology department and also served as vice president and dean of the college.

A native of Texas, Dr. Weinberg’s passion for ice hockey took him to New England, where he attended Deerfield Academy and Bowdoin College. He studied at Cambridge University before earning his master’s and doctoral degrees in sociology at Northwestern University. He has published widely.

Dr. Weinberg is a member of The Council on Foreign Relations. He has served on a variety of national and local boards, including The Talloires Network, InterAction, The Works, The Great Lakes College Association, The Ohio Foundation for Independent Colleges, and the Alliance for International Education and Cultural Exchange.

Dr. Weinberg lives on campus with his wife Anne. He has three children and two dogs.