Title: LaHurd Resigns as President of ELCA Lenoir-Rhyne College
ELCA NEWS SERVICE

April 5, 2002

LAHURD RESIGNS AS PRESIDENT OF ELCA LENOIR-RHYNE COLLEGE
02-073-MR/MJ**

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Dr. Ryan A. LaHurd, president of Lenoir-Rhyne
College, Hickory, N.C., will resign as president of the college
effective May 31. Lenoir-Rhyne is one of 28 colleges and universities
of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
     "It has been a great privilege for me to serve Lenoir-Rhyne
College as president for eight years," LaHurd said. "I believe I have
shown my appreciation for the trust placed in me by being totally
committed to doing whatever I could for the benefit of Lenoir-Rhyne. My
wife Carol and I have worked pretty much non-stop for [the college] ...
and have enjoyed our work."
     LaHurd will become executive director of the Near East Foundation,
New York. The foundation is a private, non-profit, development agency
established in 1915 to help people in Africa and the Middle East build
better lives for themselves and their communities.
     "The opportunity that has been presented to me to become executive
director of the Near East Foundation ... is really a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity," LaHurd said. "The two passions of my professional life
have been church-related higher education and involvement with
international issues, especially in the Middle East. My nearly 30 years
of service in colleges of the church has responded to the first. This
new position gives me the opportunity to move into the second on a more
full-time basis."
     LaHurd became the 10th president of Lenoir-Rhyne in 1994. From
1985 to 1994 he served as vice president for academic affairs and dean
at Augsburg College, Minneapolis. LaHurd taught English and was chair
of the English, Speech and Theater Arts department at Thiel College,
Greenville, Pa., from 1977 to 1985. Augsburg and Thiel are colleges of
the ELCA. From 1973 to 1977, LaHurd was assistant professor of English
and chair of the English department at Allentown College, Center Valley,
Pa.
     LaHurd received his bachelor of arts degree from Mt. Carmel
College, Ontario, in 1968. He earned a master of arts degree in English
and literature at the University of Chicago in 1969. In 1973, LaHurd
received a doctorate in English from the University of Wisconsin,
Madison. He received the Beach Award for Excellence in Teaching and
Scholarship there, and he was inducted into the Delta Epsilon Sigma
National Honorary Organization. LaHurd undertook his post-doctoral
study in educational administration at the Institute for Educational
Management at Harvard University in 1983.
     Throughout his professional career, LaHurd has been a writer and
frequent speaker on issues related to politics, history and culture of
the Middle East. He received a Fulbright Senior Fellowship to teach and
conduct research at the University of Sana'a in Yemen from 1992 to 1993,
a Fulbright project for educational administrators in international
education to the Federal Republic of Germany in 1989, and a Fulbright
Senior Lectureship at the University of Damascus in Syria from 1981 to
1982.
     LaHurd was a member of the ELCA Division for Higher Education and
Schools board and North Carolina Association of Colleges and
Universities board. He served as president of the ELCA Association of
Lutherans of Arab and Middle Eastern Heritage.
     LaHurd and his wife Carol are members of St. Andrew's Lutheran
Church, Hickory, N.C. Carol has a doctorate in religious studies and
serves as visiting associate professor of religion at Wake Forest
University, Winston-Salem, N.C. They have two adult children; both
reside in Chicago.
     "It is with profound regret that the Board of Trustees accepts Dr.
LaHurd's resignation, as he has provided outstanding leadership and
initiated many positive changes for Lenoir-Rhyne College," said John
David Moose, board chair. The board "wishes him well in this next step
in his fine career and appreciate the vision and intelligence he has
brought to his role as president," he said.
-- -- --
     [**Marcia Johnston is director of public relations and development
at Lenoir-Rhyne College.]

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