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The University of Portland recognizes Thomas for his contributions to higher education and his dedication to public service

TACOMA, Wash. – �������� President Ronald R. Thomas will receive an honorary doctorate from the University of Portland in recognition of his lifetime achievements in public service as an academic leader and his extraordinary contributions to higher education nationally and regionally.

Thomas will be presented with the honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from University of Portland President the Rev. Mark L. Poorman at the Oregon institution’s 2016 Commencement Ceremony on Sunday, May 1. The honor attests to Thomas’s leadership as president of Puget Sound, his innovative outreach to the community as a senior administrator at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn.; his award-winning teaching and scholarship in English literature; and his local, regional, and national public service. 

“We are delighted to confer an honorary doctorate on Ron Thomas,” said Poorman. “He has done an extraordinary job over 13 years as president at ��������. I am particularly awed by the number of Peace Corps volunteers and Fulbright scholars Puget Sound has produced under his leadership, which says something deep and true about the university’s communal and intellectual energy.

“We have been very impressed by Ron’s consistent hard work on behalf of student aid, a huge need for all colleges today. And we here on The Bluff are impressed and moved by Ron’s unflagging insistence that his remarkable university commits itself ever more deeply to the residents of Tacoma and the Salish Sea. A great university not only educates its students intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually; not only prepares them for careers as leaders in every field of endeavor; but instils in them a deep sense of service, of creativity and imagination brought to bear in service to community, from your own neighborhood, as far as you can reach.

“We think that Ron’s presidency has materially changed his university and its region for the better—an extraordinary thing to say, but true. And so we will be honored and pleased to welcome him here, where very many people, first among them me, admire his work.”

Thomas joins a distinguished group of University of Portland honorands this year, including: Fedele Bauccio, co-founder and CEO of Bon Appétit Management Company; Columbia Sportswear CEO Tim Boyle; The New York Times columnist, PBS NewsHour analyst, and best-selling author David Brooks; Eleanor Baum, the first female dean of an engineering school and president of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE); and sports pioneer Cathy Rush, the first female commentator for women’s basketball on national television and member of the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.

Ron Thomas has served as president of Puget Sound for 13 years, steering the independent national liberal arts college into new ventures that have transformed the campus, attracted national recognition, and strengthened ties with the Tacoma community, drawing accolades from Tacoma City Council, Tacoma Public Schools, and Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber of Commerce. Thomas announced last spring that he would complete his service as president at the end of June 2016.

Under Thomas’s leadership, the school was named one of 40 Colleges That Change Lived and included in the highly regarded college guide with that title. University faculty have earned seven Washington State Professor of the Year awards from the Carnegie Foundation, five during Thomas’s tenure. Consistently a leader in producing Peace Corps volunteers, Puget Sound ranked as the No. 1 small university in 2007 and tied for that position in 2016. In 2006 it became a top 10 producer of Fulbright Scholars among baccalaureate colleges, and in 2011 the school’s record put it in the top 15 percent in the nation for graduating students who go on to earn doctoral degrees.

Last year Puget Sound was listed by Forbes as one of the top 20 most entrepreneurial colleges in the country and by MSN as one of the top producers of leaders in the technology industry. It was the nation’s only liberal arts college to appear on both lists. Billy Rathje ’15 earned the university’s third Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford last year and also was selected as a Marshall Scholar, the university’s first.

Thomas came to Puget Sound committed to the idea that good scholarship and good citizenship go hand in hand. Over the years this was manifested in the acclaimed Civic Scholarship Initiative, the environmentally focused Sound Policy Institute, and the highly successful Race and Pedagogy Initiative, as well as new admission programs such as partnering with the Posse Foundation in the Bay Area and the Tacoma Public Schools Commitment, which supports local students who are admitted to Puget Sound.

Academically Puget Sound advanced as well, with new offerings in global development, neuroscience, digital humanities, bioethics, Asian languages, Latina/o studies, entrepreneurship, gender studies, and environmental policy. Experiential learning expanded rapidly and new intercollegiate alliances, such as the , were formed. Financially Puget Sound was strengthened with a successful and record-breaking $131.6 million fundraising campaign in the midst of the recession.

However, Thomas focuses not only on the big picture for the institution that won his heart—his deep personal interest in the students it serves has led many to refer affectionately to the campus as “home” and to their president as “Ron Thom.” Students hail him on campus and scramble to be on the list to attend the monthly fireside dinners held in his home with his wife, Mary. Every Tuesday, Thomas holds “open office hours” in the campus cafe to learn more, over a coffee, from passing students, faculty, and staff.   

Prior to joining Puget Sound, Thomas was a faculty member at University of Chicago, Harvard University, and Trinity College in Hartford, Conn. At Trinity, he also served as college vice president and as acting president, helping lead the implementation of Trinity’s nationally recognized engagement with the community.

The New Jersey-born Victorian literature scholar’s publications include chapters in more than 14 books and three books of his own, including and . His writing as a college president earned him a Gold Award from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE).

Thomas has served on the board of directors of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU) and its Committee on Student Aid. He is a past member of the board of directors for the American Council on Education and the Chronicle of Higher Education/New York Times Higher Education Cabinet. He is also a former chair of the Independent Colleges of Washington board. He served on the President’s Council for NCAA Division III and the executive committee of Annapolis Group, a consortium of national independent liberal arts colleges.

Press photos of Ronald R. Thomas can be downloaded from pugetsound.edu/pressphotos.

Photos on page: From top right: Ron Thomas with visitors (2012); Lyle Quasim speaks at 2010 Race & Pedagogy Conference; Peace Corps Representatives visit campus after 2016 recognition; Tacoma Mayor Marilyn Strickland with Tacoma City Council 2013 declaration of �������� Day, on 125th anniversary of the university; Commencement Ceremony 2015; Ron Thomas with fellow board members of NAICU in Washington DC. (All photos but the last by Ross Mulhausen.)

Tweet this: Congrats! Pres. Ron Thomas @univpugetsound to receive honorary degree from @UPortland in May. #totheheights !!

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