news
- Skip Navigation
- News and Events
- News Archive
- Calendars
- For the Media
- Colby-Sawyer Currents
- Alumni Magazine
- Sports News
- Faculty Experts Guide
- Contacts
for more information
Kimberly Slover
Director, College Communications
(603) 526-3647
campus news
Colby-Sawyer College Appoints Thomas Galligan as Eighth President
NEW LONDON, N.H., Feb. 27, 2006 - Colby-Sawyer College announced today that Thomas C. Galligan Jr., dean and professor of law at the University of Tennessee (UT) College of Law, has been selected by the Board of Trustees as the college's eighth president. Galligan will assume the presidency of Colby-Sawyer on August 1. 
Galligan has been dean at the UT College of Law since 1998, where he is responsible for the college's leadership, management and operation. During his tenure as dean, he has also taught torts and admiralty as professor of law and was appointed the Elvin E. Overton Distinguished Professor of Law in 2002.
Prior to joining the University of Tennessee, Galligan served as professor of law from 1986 to 1998 at the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at Louisiana State University, where he was appointed the Dr. Dale E. Bennett Professor of Law in 1997. He earned his L.L.M. degree from Columbia University Law School, J.D. from the University of Puget Sound (now Seattle University) School of Law, and an A.B. in political science from Stanford University.
The Board of Trustees voted unanimously to accept the recommendation of Galligan by the Presidential Search Committee, which was composed of trustees, faculty, staff and a student. “Tom Galligan has already captured the imagination of the campus community with his energy, intelligence and clear capacity to continue the marvelous momentum so evident at the college,” said Board Chairman Anne Winton Black, '73, '75. “He has been a successful dean of a very fine law college at the University of Tennessee, and he will bring these myriad interests and talents for college management, strategic planning and fund-raising to Colby-Sawyer. He will be a highly visible president, who through colleagueship, leadership and careful nurturing will sustain and enhance the distinctive character of the Colby-Sawyer College experience for students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends.”
The faculty members on the search committee, academic department chairs Amy Knisley (Humanities), Ben Steele (Natural Sciences) and Jean Eckrich (Exercise and Sport Sciences), expressed their support for the president-elect in a joint statement. “President-elect Galligan captured our attention from the beginning of the search process by his thoughtful letter in which he articulated his attraction to Colby-Sawyer and our mission,” they said. “His teaching and administrative career have demonstrated his commitment to the teaching-learning process as well as the importance of service and scholarship. In all of our interactions with him, he demonstrated a leadership style that was dynamic and consultative. His keen intellect, analytical mind, respect for each campus and community constituency, and enthusiasm for our liberal education program are all assets that he will bring to the presidency.”
On behalf of students, Samantha Godfrey '07, president of the Student Government Association and a member of the search committee, expressed enthusiasm for the new president. “Students were impressed with President-elect Galligan's energy and knowledge of the school,” she said “During conversations, students were comfortable speaking with him. It was evident that he really connected with students and is truly committed to student development in and outside of the classroom. Colby-Sawyer students are excited to welcome him and are enthusiastic about working together with him in the future.”
Galligan views the presidency of Colby-Sawyer College, an independent liberal arts college, as a challenge and an opportunity, as well as a logical progression for his career. “There is a natural link between liberal arts education and the law,” he says. “Legal education involves and requires a knowledge of history, government, philosophy, sociology, communications, language, science, analytical reasoning, psychology, and more.” Colby-Sawyer's history and tradition as a comprehensive liberal arts college appealed to Galligan, and he is impressed by the college's “dynamic sense of momentum, commitment to the quality of students' academic experiences, and pervasive spirit of collaboration.”
Throughout his career in academe, Galligan has combined his passion for teaching, scholarship and community service. As dean, he has remained a “committed classroom teacher” which he says allows him to know the institution better and to “engage in students' intellectual experience.” In addition to two endowed professorships at the University of Tennessee and Louisiana State University, he was selected by law students as their favorite professor in six academic years.
Galligan has written or co-written 12 books and dozens of book chapters and articles on legal issues and received the 1996-97 John Minor Wisdom Award for Excellence in Legal Scholarship for an article he co-authored in the Tulane Law Review and the Louisiana State Bar Association's Stephen J. Victory Memorial Award for Best Scholarly Article in the 1995 Louisiana Bar Journal. He was also honored with the George H. Boldt Scholarship in 1979 through 1981; the 1979 Lawless Memorial Scholarship; West Hornbook Awards from 1979 through 1981; and with numerous American Jurisprudence Awards.
“I have strived to make contributions to my discipline and to my teaching through my scholarship,” Galligan said. “My writing has always made me a better teacher and my teaching has made me a better scholar.”
Galligan has also distinguished himself through his commitment to service within the legal profession, academe and in the community. He currently serves as a member of the board of directors for several organizations that provide legal services and aid to communities in Tennessee and has served on a Knoxville Bar Association committee that seeks opportunities for minorities. He is also a former chair of the American Association of American Law Schools Committee on Academic Freedom and Tenure and former chair of the American Bar Association's Legal Education Technology Committee. He's been involved in campus planning and faculty governance and the Student Affairs Council, as well as fund-raising for local schools.
“My community work over the years has made me both a better citizen of my academic community and hopefully a better citizen of my larger community,” he said.
Galligan is married to Susan Stokes Galligan and has three daughters and one son.
Colby-Sawyer, founded in 1837, is a comprehensive liberal arts college located in the scenic Lake Sunapee Region of central New Hampshire. Students from 26 states and six foreign countries learn in small classes through a select array of programs that integrate the liberal arts and sciences with pre-professional experience.
