Geneva names interim president
William Edgar will temporarily replace Ken Smith starting July 1
William J. Edgar has spent his life as a minister and teacher in the Philadelphia area, but his move across the state to Beaver Falls will feel almost like a homecoming.
Mr. Edgar has been named interim president of Geneva College, a Christian college where his ties are many and deep.
Starting July 1, he will temporarily replace Ken Smith, who resigned recently and is moving to the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton, Texas, where he will be dean of the McLane College of Business.
“When I was recruited by the Board of Trustees I committed to serving for eight years” at Geneva College, Mr. Smith said. “It has now been 11, several years longer than the average for college presidents.”
Mr. Edgar was on Geneva’s Board of Trustees for 11 years and is the immediate past chair. His son, Daniel, graduated from Geneva two years ago, his parents both graduated from Geneva and his grandparents, John Coleman and his wife, Mary Grier Willson Coleman, were Bible professors there for many years.
Mr. Edgar, 68, was born in the Bronx in New York City and moved to the Philadelphia area (Upper Darby) at an early age. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from
Swarthmore College with a major in history and minors in political science and philosophy.
He earned his master’s degree in education at the University of Pennsylvania, with secondary certifications in social science and mathematics. He holds a doctorate in history from the same university, traveling to Athens, Greece, on a Fulbright Dissertation Grant.
Mr. Edgar recently retired as pastor of the Broomall Reformed Presbyterian Church where, aided by his wife, Gretchen, he served for 34 years. For 30 of those years he also taught mathematics at East High School in West Chester.
The Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America founded Geneva College in 1848 and continues to oversee the school.
Mr. Edgar has five children and 10 grandchildren who live in the Philadelphia area. His grandchildren are one of the reasons Mr. Edgar is happy his presidency is expected to be only six to 12 months. He says he is honored and happy to serve as interim president, but will be happy to return to his home and grandchildren.
In Beaver Falls, the couple will live in the college president’s house, two blocks from the campus. Their Eastern Pennsylvania home will be cared for by a woman and her 6-year-old son who have been living with the Edgars. They are Kurdish refugees from Turkey who have asylum in the United States.
What does Mr. Edgar have planned for his new role?
“I’ve never been a college president, so I have been asking myself that question,” he said. “I will be different from past presidents” who generally had business degrees and backgrounds while his own academic background is liberal arts.
“I expect I’ll be providing a bridge to the next administration,” Mr. Edgar said. He hopes to “maintain administrative continuity” and does not expect to institute “big initiatives or big changes.”