Newberry College Names 20th President

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Dr. Mitchell M. "Mick" Zais, 53, will become the 20th president of Newberry College, Newberry, S.C., in August. Newberry is one of 28 colleges and universities of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
Zais is currently chief of staff for the U.S. Army Reserve Command, Atlanta. He will succeed Dr. Peter French who retired last year. Dr. John Hudgens, Columbia, S.C., has served as Newberry's interim president since June.
"Being at Newberry College is like coming home," Zais said at an April 18 news conference on the college's campus. "I marvel at how my top two choices for life after serving my country in uniform -- becoming president of a small college and settling near family in the Lake Murray area -- have come together so perfectly," he said.
"First and foremost, Newberry College should remain a student- centered liberal arts, undergraduate institution. It should maintain a curriculum that provides breadth and integration of learning across all liberal arts and professional disciplines. It should be a place where the staff and faculty take pride in being a part of the students' intellectual and personal growth," Zais said.
Zais said he plans to strengthen the tie between Newberry College and the ELCA, link the college more closely to its local community and improve the campus to accommodate the latest technologies.
Zais earned a bachelor's degree in general engineering at the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, N.Y., in 1969. He earned a master of science degree in social psychology and organizational behavior from the University of Washington, Seattle, in 1979, and earned a master of arts degree in military art and science from the School of Advanced Military Studies at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kan., in 1985.
In 1986 Zais earned a doctorate degree in social psychology at the University of Washington, and in 1990 he was a research fellow at the National Security Affairs, National Defense University, Washington, D.C.
Zais' professional military career began in 1969, when he became parachute platoon leader, 82nd Airborne Division, at Fort Bragg, N.C. From 1970 to 1971, he was the rifle platoon leader, 101st Airborne Division, in Vietnam. Zais was company commander at Fort Myer, Va., from 1972 to 1973, and at Fort Riley, Kan., from 1976 to 1977.
From 1985 to 1987, Zais served as strategic planner at Fort Lewis, Wash., and battalion commander in Korea from 1987 to 1989. He was chief of operations, planning, training and budgeting at Fort Ord, Calif., from 1990 to 1992, and brigade commander there from 1992 to 1993.
Zais was chief of strategic plans, Office of the Chairman, Pentagon, Arlington, Va., from 1993 to 1994; executive officer to the commander-in-chief, U.S. Southern Command, Panama, from 1994 to 1996; deputy commanding general, Fort Riley, from 1996 to 1998; commanding general, Coalition Joint Task Force - Kuwait, Kuwait City, 1998; and commanding general, Joint Task Force Provide Refugee, Fort Dix, N.J., 1999.
Zais has published numerous articles in scholarly and professional journals on such topics as curriculum design, leader training and development, public policy, scientific method and research design, senior executiveship, the uses of history, stress and its effects, and organizational development.
Zais is married to Susan Fincher. They have two children -- Bradley, 15, and Ashley, 13. Fincher's great-great-great uncle, J. Emlon Houseal, was Newberry College's first graduate in 1869.
Newberry College offers programs in more than 35 major fields of study with an enrollment of 750 students.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
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