New College is welcoming not only a record-breaking number of incoming students this fall but also an incredible number of scholars to our faculty.  Since a change in trustees and administration at the first of 2023, which in turn led to a vibrant recommitment to the institution’s dynamic mission, New College has been inundated with curricula vitae from highly qualified and credentialed academics from around the country. 

New College is poised to be a model for schools that seek to return to a classical liberal arts approach to higher education. New College’s liberal arts focus and student-driven learning model are attractive assets for the recruitment of top-tier faculty. Consider the credentials of just a few of the excellent visiting professors that have joined New College this summer.

Richard Izquierdo rubbed elbows with some of the nation’s top law professors and spoke alongside prominent federal judges during his time as a Constitution Fellow at Georgetown Law. He holds a doctorate from Stanford, a Juris Doctor for the University of Pennsylvania and most recently taught political science at SUNY Albany.

Andrew Humphries, a brilliant economics professor with a specialization in Austrian economics, is trading Arizona sunshine to come to the real Sunshine State. He was most recently a post-doctoral research scholar at the School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership at Arizona State. Before that, he taught graduate-level coursework at his alma mater, George Mason University. 

William Hustwit held tenure at Birmingham-Southern College and was an anchor of the history department at that venerable liberal arts college. He has eagerly embraced the new opportunity ahead of him here in Sarasota. His teaching acumen, research and writing on 20^th Century U.S. history make him a marvelous addition to the New College faculty.

Eric Nemarich comes to New College in the early stages of what promises to be a distinguished academic career. A soon-to-be minted Ph.D. from Harvard brings his expertise in medieval Europe, the Middle Ages, and the ancient Mediterranean. 

These are a sampling of the more than 20 new faculty members who have already joined New College. More are coming, and they are among the best and brightest in their fields. 

We are also assembling our first group of Presidential Scholars in Residence. These highly distinguished individuals will impact our entire college community, teaching, offering engaging panel discussions and public lectures, advising on the development of new programs and elevating the profile of New College. These opportunities have allowed us to make connections with some incredible scholars.

The stature of the candidates with whom we have met and others to whom we have already committed is evident in the Presidential Scholar in Residence program. Faculty spotlighting this incredible new program includes, but not limited to: Stanley Fish, Joseph Loconte, and Andrew Doyle.

Stanley Fish brings more than 60 years of scholarship with him to New College. His incredible career has included teaching stops at Duke, John’s Hopkins and Cal Berkeley, where there is a dedicated library archive of his work. He has held the title of Davidson-Kahn Distinguished University Professor and Professor of Law, Florida International University since 2005, and Dean Emeritus of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Joseph Loconte is a New York Times best-selling author, contributed on-air to NPR for more than a decade, and is among the most accomplished scholars on John Locke working today. 

Andrew Doyle is an internationally renowned comedian who hosts the weekly Free Speech Nation program and holds a doctorate in English Renaissance Literature from Oxford. 

Finally, I would be remiss in not acknowledging the dedicated and demonstrably exceptional faculty who are returning to New College and helping us create a new core-curriculum that will be a model for the country while always extolling the virtues of New College’s unique, student-centered academic structure.

We will continue to identify and hire elite faculty befitting our goal to solidify New College’s stature as the best liberal arts university in the world.

Richard Corcoran is interim president of New College of Florida.