CHANGE AT THE TOP
W. Virginia college official introduced as new Sage president
TROY, N.Y. >> The Sage Colleges announced its new president during a special assembly and meet and greet session Wednesday afternoon.
After a nine-month national search, college officials selected Christopher Ames to become the colleges’ 10th president.
The announcements were made by Tip Simons, chair of the colleges’ Board of Trustees, and current president Susan Scrimshaw, who announced in June 2016 she will be stepping down at the end of her contract in June 2017. Sage faculty, staff, students, trustees and local alumni were invited to hear firsthand the announcement of Sage’s next president and meet him in person. Although Ames does not assume the post until July 1, he traveled to the area for announcement and meet-andgreet receptions on the colleges’ Troy and Albany campuses.
“I am delighted that someone with Dr. Chris Ames’ extensive experience and dedication to students, faculty and community will be the next president of Sage,” said Scrimshaw.
A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University Of Texas at Austin, Ames earned a doctoral degree in English literature from Stanford University and is also a graduate of Harvard University’s Institute of Educational Management and the Aspen Institute Executive Seminar on Leadership.
Since January 2013, Ames has directed academic affairs at Shepherd University, a public liberal arts university in West Virginia where he also oversaw its NCAA Division II athletic program. He led the Martinsburg Center initiative, a satellite campus serving working adults pursuing graduate and undergraduate degrees and certificates. He has collaborated with the faculty on the creation of new programs, including a Doctor of Nursing Practice, a Master of Science in Data Analytics and Information Science, and new undergraduate degrees in Music Performance, Early Education, Engineering Science, and Health Promotion and Exercise Science.
Prior to joining Shepherd, Ames served as provost and senior vice president at Oglethorpe University, a private liberal arts college in Atlanta, and provost and dean at Washington College, a private liberal arts college founded in 1782 in Chestertown, Maryland. He also taught 20th
century literature and film for 15 years at Agnes Scott College, a liberal arts college for women in Atlanta.
Ames has published two books: The Life of the Party: Festive Vision in Modern Fiction (University of Georgia Press, 1991), which was republished in 2010, and Movies about the Movies: Hollywood Reflected (University Press of Kentucky, 1997).
During his speech Wednesday inside Bush Memorial Center, Ames said one of his goals is to learn more about Sage until he takes on the position.
“I want to learn as much as I can now about Sage,” Ames said to faculty and students. “All you folks are my greatest resources, and I hope to learn from each one of you.”
“Chris, the Sage community stands ready to work with you as Sage begins its second century,” added Scrimshaw. “You inherit a community of students, faculty, staff, a leadership team of cabinet, chairs and trustees and alumni who are exceptionally devoted to Sage.”
Ames said the Sage campus and community appeal to him and he looks forward to starting his new job.
“I’m fascinated by the institutional mix at Sage – a residential women’s college in Troy, a co-educational undergraduate campus in Albany and thriving graduate programs,” Ames said. “Making sure those different elements complement one another and form a Sage that is even greater than the sum of its parts, that is an opportunity that greatly appeals to me.”
Ames and his wife will move to the Capital Region in July.
“We are excited about Troy and Albany as new places to explore, but also a part of the country that very much feels like home,” said Ames, who grew up in River Edge, New Jersey.