Jon Calvert Strauss is an American academic administrator who served as a college president at six different institutions: Worcester Polytechnic Institute (1985-1994), Harvey Mudd College (1997-2006), Manhattanville College (2011-2016), acting president of Iona University (2017)[1] and most recently as interim president of Paul Smith's College (2020-2021).[2]
Strauss received his bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, his masters in physics from the University of Pittsburgh, and his PhD in electrical engineering from the Carnegie Institute of Technology.
Strauss served as the 13th president of Worcester Polytechnic Institute from 1985 to 1994.[3] He then briefly served as the chief financial officer of Howard Hughes Medical Institute.[4] Strauss was the 4th president of Harvey Mudd College, serving in that position from 1997 to 2006.[5][6] He served as President of the Bainbridge Graduate Institute in 2008–2009.[7]
Dr. Strauss next served as the interim dean of engineering at Texas Tech University.[8] From 2011 to 2016, he served as the 12th President of Manhattanville College in Purchase, New York,[9] replacing Molly Easo Smith.[10] He was acting president of Iona University in spring 2017 and interim president of Paul Smith's College from 2020 to 2021.
He is a former member and current consultant of the National Science Board.[11] Strauss has also served as Senior Vice-president of the University of Southern California and Vice President for Budget and Finance at the University of Pennsylvania. At Penn, he helped to develop the Responsibility Center Management (RCM).
He is married to Jean Anne Sacconaghi Strauss, a writer, activist and filmmaker. He has four children: daughters Susan MacQuarrie and Stephanie Annan from his first marriage, and two sons, Kristoffer Calvert Strauss and Jonathon Samuel Louis Strauss and six grandchildren.
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