Athletic Administration

Dr. John V. Griffith, a 1969 graduate of Dickinson College, begins his eighth year as President of Presbyterian College. Griffith became the 16th president of PC on Jan. 1, 1998, replacing Dr. Kenneth B. Orr who retired after guiding the college for 18 years. Griffith was inaugurated on Oct. 10, 1998, as part of Homecoming festivities.

As the 2006-07 academic year begins, Griffith continues to guide Presbyterian College through the new strategic plan which will take PC through the first decade of the 21st century. In addition, the institution celebrated its 125th anniversary under Griffith's supervision during the 2005-06 academic year.

Griffith came to PC after spending his previous 20 years of service at several colleges in different capacities. He began his work at the college level in 1977, when he was hired as a lecturer at the University of Syracuse. Prior to his time at Syracuse, Griffith served as a chaplain at the Dana Hall School in Wellesley, Mass., from 1972-76 and as a minister at the Village Baptist Church in Sherbune, N.Y., from 1976-78. He served as a lecturer at Syracuse University for one year before accepting a job at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich., where he was an associate director for Project Choice, a $150,000 project on student consumer protection.

He moved on to Davidson College in Davidson, N.C., in 1979, where he was hired as Dean of Admission and Financial Aid and a member of the faculty. He served in this capacity for the next six years before being named Vice President for Institutional Advancement in 1985. During the next four years, Griffith helped develop Project MATCH, a $150,000 project directed at intellectual development and college admissions. While at Davidson, he was also instrumental in the development of Love of Learning, an intervention program directed at African-American youth.

Griffith continued his work at Davidson College until 1989, when he was named president of Arkansas College, a private liberal arts college in Batesville, Ark., which later changed its name to Lyon College. He served as president of Lyon, a PCUSA-related school, for eight years before coming to Presbyterian College.

Throughout his career, Griffith has served on numerous committees and councils, including the executive committee of the Association of Presbyterian Colleges and Universities and the Governor’s Advisory Board of Technology and Telecommunications for the State of Arkansas.  He is an active board member of the Laurens County Economic Development Corporation and was honored as its 2003 Man of the Year.  He is an honorary board member of the Upstate Alliance, and a gubernatorial appointment to the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education.  He also serves on the board of directors for the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities.

Griffith graduated cum laude from Dickinson College in 1969 with a bachelor’s degree in religion, receiving the Hoffstatder Award as the most outstanding senior. He later graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University in 1972 with a Master of Divinity degree, being named valedictorian and baccalaureate speaker of his class. Griffith received his Ph.D. degree in intellectual development from the University of Syracuse in 1980.

He and his wife, the former Nancy Shell, are the parents of two sons: Matthew, a graduate of Davidson College, and Chris, a graduate of Dickinson College.

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