• E-Edition
• Home
• News
• Sports
• AP
• Obituaries
• Classifieds
• Jobs
• Autos
• Homes
• Garage Sales
• Coupons
• Subscribe
• Archive
• Services
• Contribute
• Blogs

Why Defiance College? New president Mark Gordon impressed with its professors, academic offerings, community

Share Story:     E-mail Story    |    Print Story    |    Comments    |   

Summer will be a time of transition for the Gordon family as they relocate from the suburbs of Detroit to Defiance.

Mark Gordon will take over as the 18th president of Defiance College, replacing Dr. Gerald Wood who stepped down effective June 30, 2008. Dr. Charles Warren has since served as interim president while a nationwide search was underway for a new top administrator.

Gordon has been on campus several times since interviewing for the position and has been inspired by what he has seen.

"I was struck by the commitment of the faculty and the staff. You can really tell a lot about a college by how people who work there talk about it," said Gordon. "I was also really impressed with the quality of the academic offerings. I think there are some really innovative new programs like computer forensics. But across the board, it's not just quality teaching, but really close interaction between students and faculty. I think such an important part of the undergraduate experience is being able to learn in smaller class sizes and develop personal relationships with faculty."

Born in New York City, the new president sees Defiance as a great community for him and his wife, Anne, to raise their two boys, Charlie, 9, and Chris, 11. The family is expected to move to Defiance this summer.

Gordon will wrap up seven years as dean of the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law. Prior to that, he served as a former faculty member at Columbia University.

His impressive resume includes attending Columbia University and Harvard Law School. While enrolled in Harvard Law School, Gordon and Barack Obama were students at the same time.

"Barack Obama is in my yearbook," noted the DC president. "I didn't know him when I was there. He was a year behind me."

In addition to his extensive college education, Gordon has learned quite a bit about life and other cultures around the world since he was a teen-ager. From age 13 to 16, he spent summers living with families in Mexico, Costa Rica and Germany.

"When I was in college, I worked on a dairy farm in Hillsboro, Ore., and I'm still in touch with the family," he stated. "I did it because I was a guy who had grown up in New York City and I wanted to live on a farm for a while. I had a blast. It gave me a great perspective because I learned what I didn't know about. It was the first time that I shingled a roof and the first time I dehorned a calf. I helped with the milking and moving with the irrigation in the fields. I didn't really like the orchard work. I had to clear out a bunch of debris. I much preferred dealing with the cows."

Those experiences can be paralleled with the college's service learning and international McMaster programs.

"There are ways that we can expand the service learning program in pretty innovative ways," explained Gordon. "One of the things that's becoming more and more important for college students is helping them get jobs and making sure the preparation they're getting is giving them a competitive advantage in the job market. So that's an area I plan on working on."

Gordon will also be looking for ways to increase student enrollment including the post-secondary options program.

"I'm starting to look at different ways (to increase enrollment) and that might be one way," he said. "I want high school students around the country knowing about Defiance.

While serving as dean of the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, enrollment nearly doubled through a variety of efforts.

"Those are some of the things we're going to focus on here as well," said Gordon. "In Detroit, 10 percent of the students in the law school came from outside Michigan. This year's entering class is 45 percent from outside Michigan.

"I think there are lots of reasons for people from all around the country and all around the world to come to Defiance," he stressed. "Am I going to use some of the ideas that worked in Detroit? Of course."

He noted that colleges are recruiting from outside the country more and more and "DC has tremendous potential," he stressed.

Gordon sees two great academic strengths at DC, those being the nursing and education programs.

"Clearly when you look at the market, and where there is a real demand for jobs, nursing and health care, even in the down economy, is one of the few growing markets," he pointed out. "The focus on education is important as well. I think the education program provides training for so many of the teachers in northwest Ohio."

Another DC strength is its adult education program.

"That's something I want to look pretty seriously at because for many adults, given the job market, now may be the time for them to be thinking about upgrading their skills," said Gordon. "That's an area I think we're perfectly situated to expand."

Concerning the college's capital campaign, Gordon is behind it 100 percent.

"I'm one of those strange people who really enjoys fund-raising when I believe in what I am selling, and I really believe in selling Defiance College," he noted. "I believe in the benefits it offers and what it can be and I'm really excited about speaking to alumni and non-alumni. I am a big believer in that just because somebody made the mistake of not going to Defiance College is no reason they should ever be denied the opportunity to contribute money for the rest of their lives."

As to the exact date of his first day on the job, that's still up in the air.

"I still have a day job and I'm negotiating with Detroit Mercy when my (DC) start date can be," he added, "but it's certainly going to be in the summer."

So far, Gordon has felt very welcomed by the college community.

"With everybody, it's just been open arms," he said.