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President Durden's Biography

William G. Durden ’71 has been president of Dickinson College since 1999. Before accepting his current responsibilities, Durden was a member of the German department at the Johns Hopkins University and executive director of the Center for Talented Youth for 16 years. During his Hopkins’ engagement, he also served for 11 years as a senior education consultant to the U.S. Department of State and chaired the Advisory Committee on Exceptional Children and Youth. He also served at the service of various U.S. ambassadors about the world on educational issues. 

Directly prior to coming to Dickinson, Durden was simultaneously president of a division of the Sylvan Learning Systems Inc. (today Laureate Education Inc.) and vice president of academic affairs for the Caliber Learning Network — originally a joint venture of MCI and Sylvan.

Durden received his undergraduate degree from Dickinson in German and philosophy and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in German language and literature from Johns Hopkins. Directly following his graduation from Dickinson, he was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Basle, Switzerland. He has also studied at the University of Freiburg and the University of Muenster, Germany.

Durden currently serves as chair of the advisory board of the Council for the International Exchange of Scholars (the Senior Fulbright program) and as a member of the board of trustees of the Institute of International Education. Additionally, he serves on the boards of Meritas, a group of international college-preparatory schools; Walden University, a for-profit higher education institution; and the Santa Fe University of Art and Design. He also serves on the Washington Center’s Council of Presidents and is the chair of the High I Partnership, a collaborative initiative among local business, community, residential and governmental leaders in Carlisle, Pa. Formerly he was the chair of the International Schools Services and chair of the selection committee for the German Chancellor’s Scholarship Program of the Humboldt Foundation. During 2007-08, Durden chaired the subcommittee of the Annapolis Group (120 of America’s leading liberal-arts colleges) tasked with offering an alternative to the U.S. News & World Report rankings.

Durden acted as a private tutor to former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and briefed him personally on the advancement of academic talent in children and youth, American entrepreneurialism and risk-taking capacities. This conversation led to the establishment of a Centre for Gifted Youth at the University of Warwick, funded by the British government.

Durden has published and spoken widely on topics such as literary criticism, gifted and talented education, foreign-language study, technology and instruction, U.S. and international education policy and theory (at the school and university levels), leadership, and democracy in education.