New North Central College president Dr. Troy D. Hammond was introduced at a campus reception last week. He’ll succeed Dr. Harold R. Wilde on Jan. 1, 2013.  Photo by News Bulletin staff.

New NCC president introduced to campus

Dr. Troy D. Hammond was introduced as the 10th president of North Central College Oct. 29 in Wentz Concert Hall to an audience of students, faculty, staff and community members.

Hammond, 45, will become just the 10th president in the school’s 151-year history on Jan. 1, when Dr. Harold R. Wilde retires.

“One area of distinctiveness for North Central College is the tremendous stability of leadership over its 151-year history,” Hammond told the audience. 
“In the current era, when the years of leadership tenure in higher education can increasingly be counted on one hand, President Wilde has led North Central for nearly 22 years of progress and growth.”
“Our board voted unanimously on Friday to select our new president,” Board Chair Steven Hoeft ’73 told the audience. “I’m very confident that we have selected the president for North Central’s future.”
The selection of Hammond on Oct. 26 followed an eight-month search. The Presidential Search Committee was chaired by Trustee Michael Naset.
“I have been on a number of search committees over the course of my lifetime, and I can tell you without a doubt this search committee had a chair with a vision, energy and a leadership unlike anything else I have ever witnessed,” Dr. Holly Humphrey ’79, Trustee and Presidential Search Committee member said.
Hammond previously worked as vice president for Plextronics, Inc.—a small, Pittsburgh-based technology company that he helped build into a global leader in printed electronics—and McKinsey & Company, a leading management consulting firm. He holds a Ph.D. in experimental atomic physics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a bachelor’s of science degree in physics from Georgia Tech and a bachelor’s of science in mathematics from Milligan College.
He earned a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship and taught a course in quantitative methods for business in Milligan’s MBA program.
Hammond and his wife Sharlene have lived in Naperville with their four children since 2010, when he became president of energy services business at BlueStar Energy.
“I bring a unique perspective to North Central College, with my combination of academic and professional backgrounds,” Hammond told the audience. “I have a passion for liberal arts education because I know what it means for students—I know what it meant for me. North Central prepares students to be broad thinkers, to think laterally and creatively, to contribute productively with peers, and the ability to adapt, grow and learn over a lifetime.”
Hammond said he was deeply honored and humbled to become North Central College’s 10th president.
“North Central has a rich and proud history, but North Central is not standing still,” he said. “It is moving forward aggressively.”
Hammond’s introduction was shown as a live webcast on the College’s website.