Huntingdon College announces new president
Dr. Anthony Leigh – Photo from Huntingdon College
Dr. Anthony Leigh has been chosen as the 15th President of Huntingdon College, effective July 1.
This morning, the college’s board of trustees unanimously elected Leigh, who currently serves as Huntingdon’s senior vice president for student and institutional development and dean of students. Effective July 1, current Huntingdon President J. Cameron West will assume the role of president emeritus and senior advisor for United Methodist Polity.
“Dr. Anthony Leigh has demonstrated an unmatched passion and enthusiasm for serving Huntingdon students. He is a gifted administrator, and he clearly understands the internal operations of the College and effectively communicates the mission of the College to external constituencies,” Board of Trustees Chairman Leura Canary said.
“He is deeply respected and admired by students, faculty, staff, alumni, trustees, and across his vast network of contacts. For 15 years, he has been an integral part of the success of President West’s leadership, and we are confident that he is the leader Huntingdon needs to propel the College to its next chapter of excellence and to champion the Heart of Huntingdon campaign,” she said.
“I am humbled and honored by the opportunity to serve as the 15th President of Huntingdon College,” Leigh said. “I’ve had a front row seat to the transformational experience a Huntingdon education offers our students. Huntingdon changes lives. Thanks to our outstanding faculty and staff, Huntingdon graduates are prepared to be difference makers in the communities and in the career fields in which they serve.”
Leigh is a Sheffield native and a cum laude graduate of Wofford College in South Carolina where he received a bachelor’s degree in government and served as president of the student body. He completed a master’s degree in philanthropy and development from Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota, and a doctorate in higher education management from the University of Georgia.
He is a member of Montgomery First United Methodist Church and also attends Frazer Church. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Business Council of Alabama, and a member of the Committee on the Episcopacy for the Alabama-West Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church. He has previously served as Chairman of the Advisory Board of Baptist Medical Center East, and on the Board of Directors of the Montgomery Rotary Club.
His wife, Wendy, is a retired educator who devoted 23 years of service to Elmore County schools and four years in Georgia. They have a seven-year-old daughter, Carey Mae, who enjoys going to Huntingdon women’s athletic events with Dr. Leigh.
