Cresswell, Hitchell take their places on leadership team
Trinity College welcomed two new vice presidents during the summer of 2016.
ACADEMIC AFFAIRS
Tim Cresswell was named the College’s new dean of the faculty and vice president for academic affairs, the senior position in academic administration.
“In this key role,” said President Joanne Berger-Sweeney in making the announcement of Cresswell’s appointment, “Tim will work to sustain and strengthen the College’s tradition of academic excellence and innovation, collaborate with and inspire our intellectually engaged and creative faculty, and play a major role within the senior College leadership in defining strategic goals for Trinity’s future.”
Cresswell, who joined Trinity in July and reports to Berger-Sweeney, comes from Northeastern University in Boston, where he served as associate dean for faculty affairs in the College of Social Sciences and Humanities, professor of history and international affairs, and associate director for public humanities at the Northeastern Humanities Center.
Cresswell said he feels this is a “good moment” for Trinity. “There is a strong and visionary leadership as well as an excellent, multitalented faculty,” he said. “I look forward to helping to define and strengthen Trinity College, the liberal arts, and the Hartford community as Trinity moves toward its 200th birthday.”
Before assuming his academic and administrative responsibilities at Northeastern, Cresswell served in administration and on the faculties of Royal Holloway, University of London; the University of Wales, Aberystwyth and Lampeter; and the University of Connecticut. He has held honorary faculty positions at the University of Neuchâtel in Switzerland and at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts.
Cresswell holds a B.A. in geography from University College London in the United Kingdom; an M.S. in geography from the University of Wisconsin-Madison; a Ph.D. in geography from the University of Wisconsin-Madison; and a second Ph.D. in English–creative writing from Royal Holloway, University of London. The author of 11 books, Cresswell is an internationally recognized geographer who is intrigued by issues of place and mobility. His most recent work focuses on Maxwell Street Market in Chicago and its evolution over 130 years. In addition, he is a poet who explores similar themes about space and place in his two collections: Soil, published in 2013, and Fence, published in 2015.
FINANCE
Dan Hitchell was named Trinity’s new vice president of finance and chief financial officer. Reporting to Berger-Sweeney, Hitchell, who also joined Trinity in July, is responsible for the strategic oversight and management of the College’s financial resources and operations.
Hitchell comes to Trinity from Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio, where he served as vice president for finance and administration and treasurer. In an announcement to the campus community about Hitchell’s appointment, Berger-Sweeney wrote, “Dan brings to Trinity the ability to frame complex financial issues in straightforward terms, to create feasible solutions, to plan and implement capital projects, to manage the College’s debt portfolio, and to steward the College’s resources.
“He has in-depth experience operating in the challenging financial environment that liberal arts colleges — and all of higher education — face today,” said Berger-Sweeney. “This breadth and depth of expertise, combined with Dan’s outgoing and collaborative manner, were primary factors in the search committee’s recommendation and in my decision.”
Hitchell said, “My family and I are excited about joining the Trinity community and making the move to Connecticut. I am honored to become a member of Trinity’s leadership team and to take part in the strategic planning process that will guide the College as it prepares to enter its third century.”
Prior to joining Ohio Wesleyan in 2012, Hitchell served for six years at Webster University in St. Louis, where he was associate vice president for resource planning and budget, and, before that, for 15 years at Saint Louis University as director of financial planning and budgeting. Hitchell holds a B.S. in quantitative business analysis from Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and an M.B.A. from the University of Evansville in Evansville, Indiana.
Photos by John Marinelli