James S. Lambert Selected as Director of Lifelong Learning The former provost at Southern Virginia University begins his W&L appointment on July 1.

By Brian Laubscher
May 20, 2025

Washington and Lee University has selected James S. Lambert as the next director of Lifelong Learning, effective July 1. Lambert replaces Dennis Cross, who most recently served as the interim director.

Lambert will lead W&L’s Lifelong Learning team, which is committed to advancing lifelong learning through personal experiences gained through the university’s dynamic portfolio of travel and on-campus and virtual programs. He will report to Susan Wood, the university’s vice president for advancement, and will also serve as a professor of English.

“I am delighted to welcome James to W&L,” said Wood. “Lifelong learning is central to the university’s mission, and James’ energy and expertise will significantly enhance our efforts to engage alumni and friends through a shared commitment to continuous growth. James embodies lifelong learning through his curiosity and his dedication to expanding knowledge and experiences.”

Lambert comes to W&L from Southern Virginia University (SVU), where he served in various capacities over the previous nine years, including the last four as provost and associate professor of English. As provost, Lambert was SVU’s chief academic officer and provided leadership to advance the institution’s curricular, co-curricular and experiential components of student learning. Lambert also served on the university’s advancement and development team and was a member of the president’s leadership council, helping to set institutional goals and priorities for student enrollment and retention.

“James has the skills and growth mindset we hoped to attract in a director of Lifelong Learning,” said Cross, chair of the search committee. “He is a proven leader who believes in the importance of lifelong learning as an essential outgrowth of a liberal arts education. He exemplifies academic accomplishment, intellectual curiosity and breadth, creativity, adaptability, seasoned confidence and interpersonal skills. We know James will build upon the program’s long-standing strengths and establish innovative programming to engage and connect faculty expertise and interests with an expanded group of W&L alumni, parents and friends. The promise ahead is palpable.”

Lambert arrived at SVU as director of the university’s Writing Center, later directing the Personal Learning Center, chairing the humanities division and serving as executive vice president of academic operations. He has taught all levels of literature and writing courses for undergraduates, pedagogy courses for professors and first-year experience courses for new college students.

Throughout his career, Lambert has been a strong advocate for lifelong learning based on seeking wisdom, applying knowledge and refining discernment from the best books, people and ideas available. To that end, he enjoys traveling, reading, talking and taking courses, all of which make lifelong learning his ideal vocation.

“When students choose to attend any university, they are making a conscious decision about who and what will shape the mechanism of their learning, not just for four years but for the rest of their lives,” said Lambert. “When students choose W&L, they can be confident that they have chosen the most adept and equipped school to handle the project and mechanism of their learning for life. I am thrilled to be a part of that project.”

Prior to his time at SVU, Lambert served as an assistant professor of English, chair of the English department and writing program administrator at the American University of Kuwait from 2012 until 2016.

Lambert earned a Bachelor of Arts in English with a minor in Spanish from Brigham Young University, a Master of Arts in American literature from the University of Arizona and a Ph.D. in Renaissance British literature from the University of Iowa. He has written at length about early modern expressions of religious emotions and has published work on early modern poetry and drama, Shakespeare, religious history and teaching.