David Maxwell named president of Drake University

Former Whitman College president David Maxwell became president of Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa, on May 15. He is the 12th president of Drake, an independent university with approximately 5,000 students.

Maxwell, president of Whitman from 1989 to 1993, was chosen from a field of 130 candidates after an extensive national search. "David Maxwell has exceptionally strong academic credentials coupled with management and fund-raising experience," said Robert Ray, former board of governors chair and interim president of the university. "Perhaps equally important are the personal and leadership qualities that have made him very attractive to those who made the decision to invite him to be the next president."

Maxwell has served as director of Johns Hopkins University's National Foreign Language Center in Washington, D.C., for the past six years.