Dan Porterfield Biography

Daniel R. Porterfield is the 15th president of Franklin & Marshall College. Porterfield has been elected as the next president and CEO of the Aspen Institute, effective June 1, 2018.

In 1984 Porterfield founded the D.C. Schools Project, through which college students tutor immigrant or first-generation children and their parents in English-language skills. He was also instrumental in creating the After School Kids program in 1987, which trains college students to tutor at-risk youth in the District of Columbia. Both programs are currently run by the Center for Social Justice Research, Teaching and Service at Georgetown University.

From 1993 to 1996 Porterfield served as a chief speechwriter and then Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs (Policy & Strategy) for U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Donna E. Shalala.

Georgetown University president Leo J. O'Donovan recruited Porterfield to join the English faculty at his alma mater in 1997. He taught literature courses dealing with human rights, education, and social justice. In 2003, Porterfield received Georgetown’s Dorothy Brown Award for exemplary commitment to the educational advancement of students. He subsequently received the Georgetown College Edward Bunn, S.J., Award for Faculty Excellence and the School of Foreign Service Faculty Excellence Award.

Porterfield later served as Senior Vice President for Strategic Development at Georgetown. In this role he assisted President John J. DeGioia with the development of new projects and led Georgetown's institutional positioning, communications, government relations, community relations, and intercollegiate athletics. He spearheaded Georgetown’s relationship with Teach For America, KIPP, the D.C. public schools and The Cristo Rey Network. He also served as interim director of Georgetown's NCAA Division I athletics program from June 2009 to April 2010.

On Nov. 16, 2010, the Franklin & Marshall College board of trustees announced its selection of Porterfield to serve as the college's 15th president. Porterfield began his tenure at F&M on March 1, 2011 and was inaugurated on Sept. 25, 2011.

In his inaugural address, titled "Kindle Fire," Porterfield spoke about the core purposes and values of a liberal arts education, the traditions of Franklin & Marshall and the power of ideas and knowledge. "It is imperative that we at F&M and all liberal arts colleges embrace the idea that we can be high-impact forces for the long-term good in the world," Porterfield said. "Liberal arts education is the single finest form of cultivating emerging human talent and character that this world has ever known."

Since becoming president, Porterfield’s strategies in the area of college opportunity have led F&M to enroll some of the most talented and diverse classes in its history. The percentage of incoming Pell Grant-eligible students has increased from five percent in 2008 to 19 percent in 2015. Porterfield and F&M attribute these results to a doubling of need-based financial aid for the first-year class over that time period and to a strategy of targeted outreach to promising students in underserved communities.

As he did at Georgetown, Porterfield has forged new partnerships between F&M and K-12 educators and access programs including the Posse Foundation, KIPP, Achievement First, Uncommon Schools, Noble, College Match, College Track, the College Advising Corps and Cristo Rey. While serving at F&M, he has joined the boards of the College Board and the Lenfest Foundation, a Philadelphia-based scholarship and college access organization. He also sits on the Teach For America University Champions' Board and the College Advising Corps Advisory Board.

In 2011, Porterfield created a highly regarded pre-college summer program, F&M College Prep, to allow more than 70 rising seniors from low-income communities to spend three weeks learning from F&M faculty and current students. He also absorbed F&M’s career center into a comprehensive Office of Student & Post-Graduate Development, an effort that has gained national attention for its innovative approach to transitioning students into successful lives after college.

KIPP honored Porterfield in 2012 with its “Beyond Z” award, which “celebrates members of the school community who go above and beyond for the benefit of children,” and the “I Have A Dream” Foundation presented him with its Eugene M. Lang Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014.

Porterfield is a frequent contributor to the national dialogue on issues like the value of the liberal arts, college access and the impact of technology on higher education. His pieces have been featured in The Chronicle of Higher Education, the Houston Chronicle, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and Forbes, and he writes regularly for Forbes and The Huffington Post.

In 2013, Porterfield took part as a panelist discussing “A Path to Higher Ed” on NBC News’ Education Nation, and was the only liberal arts college president invited to speak at the three White House summits focusing on college opportunity hosted by the Obama administration in 2014.

The Aspen Institute named Porterfield as their next president and CEO in an announcement on November 30, 2018. Porterfield will succeed Walter Isaacson in that position, effective June 1, 2018.

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