Wayne Webster, Ed.D.

Dr. Wayne P. Webster will begin his responsibilities as the 18th President of Albion College on July 1, 2023.

Webster brings 23 years of experience to his new role, including an extensive background in development, alumni relations, student engagement and shared governance. During his career, Webster has led initiatives to raise more than $250 million to fund endowments, support capital campaigns, enhance infrastructure and engage with constituents. Recognized by his peers as a consensus builder and thoughtful listener, Webster has worked in leadership roles at nationally ranked private colleges with enrollments between 1,000 and 2,000 students in Nebraska, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Webster joins Albion College after serving as Interim President of The College of Wooster. During his interim term, Webster led the successful completion of the $40 million Lowry Center expansion and renovation and worked with donors to establish new positions for campus sustainability and student retention efforts.

Webster is guiding Wooster through a collaborative three-year budget realignment process that includes the launch of the campus’ first holistic academic program review as well as deliberative campus conversations on ways to strengthen the Wooster community and its mission. This work comes on the heels of Wooster’s Higher Learning Commission accreditation review this spring. Together with his leadership team and campus partners, he introduced a new set of peer, aspirant and watch schools and is working to define key performance indicators from which to measure success. He also oversaw the restructuring of the Office of Human Resources, instituted new and/or revised handbooks and employment policies, mobilized support for a new campus ERP system, provided all employees access to armed intruder training and recently launched a search for the College’s first vice president of human resources.

Webster joined Wooster in 2016 as Vice President for Advancement. In this role, he led the public phase of the $190 million Wooster’s Promise campaign, which resulted in a state-of-the-art life sciences building and significant endowment growth to help support strategic initiatives. Wooster’s endowment has grown by more than $140 million with his leadership.

Prior to Wooster, Webster served as Vice President at the University of Northern Colorado, where he led the launch of the public university’s first comprehensive campaign. He also was Vice President for Advancement at Ripon College in Wisconsin, where he led the largest comprehensive campaign in college history.

Webster has led increases in engagement in each of his roles, which have resulted in significantly more volunteer assistance with career development, internship and mentoring opportunities for students, as well as greater support for admissions efforts. His role in helping to formulate and lead inclusive strategic planning in partnership and dialogue with faculty, staff and students has been critical to the philanthropic and engagement success of all the teams he has led. His dissertation focused on strategic planning at liberal arts colleges. At each institution, he has played a leadership role in the crafting and execution of strategic plans, campus master plans and annual budgets.