Wim Wiewel is Lewis & Clark College’s 25th president. Since he took the helm in fall 2017, President Wiewel has brought new energy, vision, and focus to the community. He has led the development and implementation of a strategic plan, Exploring for the Global Good, and has initiated the quiet phase of a comprehensive campaign that has raised more than $50 million in less than two years. 

During his previous nine years as president of Portland State University, that institution became the largest and most diverse university in Oregon. Retention and graduation rates increased every year, funded research went up 50 percent, and fundraising tripled. His leadership earned him the Council for Advancement and Support of Education’s Chief Executive Leadership Award in 2014. 

A proponent of strong civic engagement, Wiewel has served on a number of prominent business and cultural organizations. As a vocal advocate of teaching and practicing sustainability, he works closely with government, industry, and academic leaders to drive collaboration. 

Wiewel has authored or edited nine books and more than 65 articles and chapters that have appeared in such publications as Economic Geography and the Journal of the American Planning Association. His most recent books are Global Universities and Urban Development and Suburban Sprawl. 

A recipient of a classic liberal arts education as a high school student in his native Amsterdam—and the first in his family to go to college—Wiewel holds degrees in sociology and urban planning from the University of Amsterdam and a Ph.D. in sociology from Northwestern University.