Dr. John M. Dunn became the eighth president of Western Michigan University on July 1, 2007.

Prior to coming to WMU, Dunn served as interim chancellor at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Before accepting that appointment, he held the position of provost and vice chancellor at SIUC.

An educator for more than 30 years, Dunn was dean of the University of Utah’s College of Health before moving to SIUC, holding that post from 1995 to 2002. Before that, he was at Oregon State University for 20 years, last serving as associate provost there from 1990 to 1995. His earlier positions at Oregon State included assistant dean of Health and Human Performance, chair of the Department of Exercise and Sport Science and director of the university’s Special Physical and Motor Fitness Clinic.

Internationally known for his research and writing about the long-term health of individuals with disabilities, Dunn is the author of more than 50 professional papers and book chapters. He is a past president of the Research Consortium of the American Alliance for Health Physical Education, Recreation and Dance; past editor of Quest, a professional publication for kinesiology scholars; and president-elect of the American Academy of Kinesiology and Physical Education.

Dunn, who began his teaching at the University of Connecticut in 1972, earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Northern Illinois University in 1967 and 1969, respectively. He earned his doctoral degree in physical education from Brigham Young University in 1972.

Dr. Eileen Wilson-Oyelaran became the 17th president of Kalamazoo College in July 2005 and brings to her work a record of distinction in the realm of higher education and early child development, both in this country and abroad.

A native of Los Angeles, Wilson-Oyelaran earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Pomona College, and a master’s and doctorate in education from the Claremont Graduate University. She completed an undergraduate study abroad experience in England where she studied the education of immigrant children. She was also the recipient of the Thomas J. Watson Traveling Fellowship, which enabled her to execute independent research in Ghana, Nigeria, and Tanzania. After completing her doctoral work in early childhood development, she accepted her first academic position at the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) in Nigeria, teaching in both the departments of education and psychology and serving as a department chair and vice-dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences over the next 14 years.

Wilson-Oyelaran’s scholarly focus is in child development and education in cross-cultural context, and she has published widely in this area. While in Nigeria she served as a consultant for UNICEF (Nigeria) and designed a series of baseline surveys that became the model for assessing the status of children under 5 throughout the country.

In 1988 Wilson-Oyelaran became visiting scholar in education at North Carolina Wesleyan College and then associate professor and chair of the department of education at Winston-Salem State University. In 1995, she became dean of the college at Salem College, and rose to the position of vice president of Salem Academy and College and dean of the college. She also served as acting president of Salem College for a brief period.