David W. Oxtoby

David W. Oxtoby is President of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.  He is President Emeritus of Pomona College and he was a Visiting Scholar at the Harvard Graduate School of Education prior to becoming President of the American Academy. As the ninth president of Pomona College, serving from 2003–2017, he has been recognized as a leader in American higher education, at the forefront in advancing environmental sustainability, increasing college access, cultivating creativity, and pursuing academic excellence in the context of an interdisciplinary liberal arts environment. Previously he served as Dean of the Division of Physical Sciences and the William Rainey Harper Distinguished Service Professor of Chemistry at the University of Chicago. Dr. Oxtoby has been the recipient of several fellowships, including from the Guggenheim and National Science foundations. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a member of the American Chemical Society. He was an Overseer of Harvard University from 2008–2014 and is a member of the Ojai Music Festival Board. A member of Phi Beta Kappa, Dr. Oxtoby received honorary degrees from Occidental College (2005), Lingnan University in Hong Kong (2009), and Miami Dade College (2019). He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2012.