News & Communications from the presidency of Robert A. Oden (2002–2010)
New building will address Carleton’s critical needs
An important announcement for the Carleton community from President Oden on April 1st, 2010.
Important Announcement about the Arts Union
Dear Carleton faculty, staff, and students, The honor and the pleasure I have today of conveying to you quite extraordinary news regarding our Arts Union. This past weekend, Carleton’s board…
Carleton President Robert A. Oden Jr. Announces Retirement, Effective June 2010
Robert A. Oden Jr., Carleton College president since 2002 and a leader of educational institutions for more than 20 years, has announced his retirement effective June 2010, the end of the current academic year.
President Oden’s Letter to Carleton Community Regarding June 2010 Retirement
The following communication was sent out to the Carleton community from President Robert A. Oden Jr. regarding his plans to retire in June 2010.
President Oden Pens College Application Essay for Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal asked President Oden to answer one of Carleton’s admissions application essay questions. His response appeared on the newspaper’s website on May 6, 2009, and is reprinted here.
Carleton Dean named President of Beloit College
Dear Carleton Faculty, Staff, and Students, Scott Bierman, Carleton College’s dean of the college, has accepted a position as the new Beloit College (Wis.) president, effective July 1, 2009. There…
Carleton’s Budget Planning
President Oden updates the campus community on the College’s response to the economic downturn.
Facing the Challenges of the Economic Downturn
President Oden and Jack Eugster, Chair of Carleton’s Board of Trustees, address the challenges of the economic downturn and how the College is working to implement short and long-term strategies for best dealing with these issues.
Arts Union Update
As you know these are challenging times. The current financial market uncertainty is severe enough that we need to be prudent about the speed with which we proceed with the Arts Union project. One consequence is that we will not move ahead with asking the Board at its October meeting to approve the development of construction documents. Practically, this means that the completion of Phase I in the Fall of 2011 will be unlikely.
An American College President in Egypt – with Thirty-Two Students
President Robert A. Oden Jr. wrote an essay for Inside Higher Ed describing his and his students’ experiences during their winter term 2008 off-campus studies experience, “Middle East Mosaics.” President Oden led 32 students for the first portion of the experience to Egypt, and he reflects on returning to his roots as a teacher and professor and how learning about Ancient Egypt is relevant for 21st-century college students.
President Oden’s Speech, “Reflections on Liberal Learning–Putting Things in Context,” Given at University of South Dakota
President Robert A. Oden Jr. delivered the keynote address at the University of South Dakota’s president’s lecture series on teaching and learning entitled “Reflections on Liberal Learning–Putting Things in Context.”
Teresa Johnston Oden Releases “Spousework: Partners Supporting Academic Leaders”
Teresa Johnston Oden, the wife of Carleton College president Robert A. Oden Jr., has published Spousework: Partners Supporting Academic Leaders. During her first year as an academic’s leader’s spouse Oden found a surprise around almost every corner. “It all added up to something like culture shock,” she says. That’s when she started thinking that someone should write a book about the partner’s experience.
President Rob Oden Appears on NPR’s “On Point”
Carleton President Robert A. Oden Jr. appeared on National Public Radio’s On Point on Tuesday, Sept. 18. The show, entitled “What Is College For,” discussed former Yale Law School dean Anthony Kronman’s new book, “Education’s End: Why Our Colleges and Universities Have Given Up on the Meaning of Life.”
President’s Article on Kinnickinnic River from KinniKeeper Newsletter
President Rob Oden, an avid and renowned fly fisherman, penned an article for the KinniKeeper, a newsletter produced by the Kinnickinnic River Land Trust.
President’s Report to Alumni at Reunion 2007
President Rob Oden addresses alumni gathered in Skinner Memorial Chapel for Reunion 2007.
President’s Letter Regarding Hurricane Katrina Response
The enormity of the devastation brought about by Hurricane Katrina has compelled us all to act and to act quickly to do all we can to assist our own students and their families from the Gulf Coast region…
Reunion Convocation Remarks
Remarks to alumni at Reunion Convocation, June 19, 2005.
Commencement Welcome Address
President Robert A. Oden Jr.’s speech at the 2005 Commencement ceremony.
President Rob Oden quoted in Washington Post op/ed.
President Robert A. Oden Jr. was quoted in an op/ed piece written by former Major League Baseball commissioner Fay Vincent in the May 29 Washington Post. Titled “No Merit in These Scholarships,” the piece makes the case for financial aid based primarily on need. The piece states: “Rob Oden, when he was president of Kenyon College in Ohio, made this point. ‘Look, this is a little like poking the bear with a sharp stick,’ he told me. ‘The strong schools who only give aid based on need are the bear. When they begin to notice what we are doing because they are losing good students, they will respond and the game will end.’ (Oden is now president of Carleton College, a top-ranked school in Minnesota, which, like Williams, does not grant merit aid.)”
Teresa Oden premieres new play in honor of Northfield
Teresa Oden, president Rob Oden’s spouse, has written a play titled “This Town” in honor of Northfield’s sesquicentennial. It opens April 28 at the Northfield Arts Guild theater and runs through May 1, 2005. More.
President Oden honored at Dartmouth College.
On Friday, November 5, Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H., held a special lunch in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the awarding of the first Dartmouth Distinguished Teaching Award. Carleton College President Robert A. Oden Jr. was the first recipient of the award in 1979, and he and his wife Teresa Oden were guests at the event. Oden was a religion professor at Dartmouth from 1972 to 1989. The Odens are pictured here with Dartmouth President James (Jim) Wright and his wife, Susan Wright.
Teresa Oden writes essay for Chronicle of Higher Education.
Teresa Oden, spouse of President Robert A. Oden Jr., wrote an essay for the November 5 issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education titled “Not the First Lady.” Oden is writing a book tentatively titled “Spousework: Partnering an Academic Leader.”
Speech to Northfield Downtown Development Committee
A talk about Carleton’s ties to Northfield, given by President Oden to the Northfield Downtown Development Committee
President Rob Oden Featured on Minnesota Bound
Carleton President Robert A. Oden Jr. was featured in a segment on the television program Minnesota Bound on Sunday, August 1, at 10:30 p.m. on KARE-TV (Channel 11 in the Twin Cities). The show will be rebroadcast later on Call of the Wild, a program on the Outdoor Channel. Oden, an avid fly-fisherman, taught a Rec Center class on fly-fishing this spring to about 30 students and staff. A crew from Minnesota Bound attended the class and took Oden fishing at one of southeast Minnesota’s best trout streams.
President Robert Oden’s Fly-Fishing Class Featured in Pioneer Press
President Robert A. Oden Jr. was featured in the June 7 issue of the Saint Paul Pioneer Press, in a story about a fly-fishing class he taught this spring at Carleton’s Lyman Lakes through the Recreation Center. Senior Dan Poppy was quoted in the story: “Three lessons are enough to whet my appetite. Fly-fishing has always seemed like a very romantic pastime,” he said. “And it didn’t hurt that it was taught by President Oden. He represents all the ideals we value at Carleton, such as creativity and search for knowledge… and not taking yourself too seriously. This is the perfect example.” The story was picked up by newspapers across the nation.
President Oden featured in Chronicle of Higher Education.
Carleton president Robert A. Oden Jr. was featured in an article titled “The Lure of It All” about his interest in fly-fishing in the April 30 Chronicle of Higher Education’s Short Subjects section. “If you’re not catching fish, you’re doing something wrong…The key to fly-fishing is being dramatically impatient,” Oden said.
President Robert A. Oden Jr. comments on monks in advertising in The New York Times.
President Robert A. Oden Jr. commented on the use of monks in advertising in an August 25 New York Times article titled “Poverty, Chastity, Marketability: Advertisers Turn Monks Into Pitchmen.” Oden commented that most commercials using monk figures would not work if they squared with the way monks actually live.
President Oden presents at Minnesota International Center.
President Robert A. Oden Jr.‘s participation in a Minnesota International Center panel was noted in an August 21 Saint Paul Pioneer Press article titled “International Center offers program on three religions.” The presentation “Diverse Traditions–Common Ideals” was designed to discuss the relationship of Christianity, Islam and Judaism to the natural world and to governments, and the fundamentalist elements in each religion.
Inauguration Address: “What Makes Carleton Carleton”
President Robert A. Oden Jr.’s inauguration address
Inauguration Convocation Address: “Carleton and the Liberal Arts: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow”
Read President Robert A. Oden Jr.’s inauguration convocation address.
Carleton President Oden Featured in New York Times Story
Robert A. Oden, Jr., president of Carleton College, was featured in a story published in the July 6 edition of the New York Times.
Robert A. Oden, Jr. Named 10th President of Carleton College
Robert A. Oden, Jr., president of Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, has been appointed the 10th president of Carleton College, as announced today by the College’s Board of Trustees. Oden (pronounced O-DEEN) succeeds the retiring Stephen R. Lewis, Jr., effective July 1, 2002.