William E. Troutt was named Rhodes' 19th president on March 30, 1999 and formally inaugurated into the office on April 14, 2000. Over the next four years he led the college community in the creation of a widely endorsed Rhodes Vision, which charts the institutional course for the foreseeable future.

Dr. Troutt's tenure as Rhodes president has already been remarkably successful. The College has climbed to the top tier of national liberal arts colleges, has achieved higher retention and enrollment rates, has increased diversity on the campus, has constructed a new apartment-style student residence complex, developed a student research partnership with St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and, notably, secured the largest gift in Rhodes history--$35.5 million to build the Paul Barret, Jr. Library and a $6 million Priddy grant to fund service learning.

Dr. Troutt previously served as president of Belmont University 1982-1999 where he was named one of the nation's most effective college presidents in a study funded by the Exxon Foundation. He holds the Ph.D. degree from Vanderbilt University, the M.A. from the University of Louisville and the B.A. from Union University.

Well known nationally for his contributions to higher education, Dr. Troutt chaired the National Commission on the Cost of Higher Education. This commission was an 11-member panel charged with addressing public concerns about rising college prices and making recommendations for keeping American higher education affordable. The commission's findings and recommendations, which received bipartisan Congressional support and the endorsement of the higher education community, served as a guide for the Higher Education Reauthorization Act of 1998.

Troutt is Chairman of the American Council on Education and former Chairman of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities. He is published in the Peabody Journal of Education, the Journal of Higher Education, New Directions for Institutional Research and is completing a book on refining the work of a leader.

Dr. and Mrs. Troutt, the former Carole Pearson, are the parents of two children, a daughter Carole Ann Schmidt and a son Jackson Cunliffe Troutt.