Kenneth P. Ruscio Named Interim President of Washington and Lee University

By News Office
May 11, 2026

Kenneth P. Ruscio ’76, president emeritus of Washington and Lee University, has been named interim president of the University, effective July 1.

Ruscio, who served as president of Washington and Lee University from 2006-2016, will return to the role in an interim capacity until the University’s next president is named and seated.  Current W&L President William C. Dudley, who has held the position since January 1, 2017, will assume the presidency of Claremont McKenna College this summer.

“We are thrilled that Ken Ruscio has accepted our invitation to return to W&L in an interim capacity as we conclude our search for Washington and Lee’s next president,” said Wali Bacdayan ’92, rector of W&L’s Board of Trustees. “Ken brings not only a wealth of leadership experience to the role, but an innate understanding of the University and its various constituencies. We couldn’t ask for a steadier hand to guide W&L through this transition and sustain the momentum we’ve achieved under Will Dudley.”

During Ruscio’s tenure, Washington and Lee received an historic $100 million gift to establish the Johnson Program in Leadership and Integrity, which includes the Johnson Scholarship, a merit-based scholarship program that awards full tuition and fees, housing and food, and $10,000 in funding for a summer experience to up to 44 incoming students each year. The University also significantly expanded its need-based financial aid program, including the elimination of loans from financial aid packages and the creation of The W&L Promise.

Ruscio oversaw a number of other critical projects, including the $50 million renovation and restoration of W&L’s historic Colonnade; the creation of the Roger Mudd Center for Ethics and the J. Lawrence Connolly Center for Entrepreneurship; and the $66 million Lenfest Challenge, which created 15 new endowed faculty chairs, 10 term professorships, and improved faculty compensation. Under his leadership, the University introduced major work-life initiatives for faculty and staff; implemented sustainability initiatives, including a successful, cost-saving energy-education program; and built several new facilities, including the Hillel House, the upper-division housing village, the natatorium, and the Center for Global Learning, which the Board of Trustees named in Ruscio’s honor in 2016. In addition, the University made extensive renovations to first-year housing, Leyburn Library, and Lewis Hall, and developed the Duchossois Athletic Complex.

“Kim and I are delighted to return to Washington and Lee while the Board of Trustees concludes its search for the university’s next president,” said Ruscio. “Having spent a decade as president and just celebrated my 50^th reunion, W&L has always been home for us. It’s an honor to be asked to serve my alma mater in this capacity, and I’m looking forward to connecting with old and new friends and meeting the next generation of W&L students.”

A distinguished scholar of democratic theory and public policy, Ruscio earned his B.A. in politics from Washington and Lee (1976), and a Master of Public Administration (1978) and Ph.D. in public affairs and public administration (1983), both from Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

He was a postdoctoral research scholar at UCLA and taught at both Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Kansas University before returning to his alma mater, holding staff and faculty positions as professor of politics, associate dean of the Williams School of Commerce, Economics, and Politics, and dean of freshmen at W&L from 1987 to 2002.

Ruscio served as the University of Richmond’s dean of the Jepson School of Leadership Studies from 2002 to 2006 before becoming president of Washington and Lee. He has since served as president of the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges from 2017 to 2018 and as a senior distinguished lecturer at the Jepson School from 2019 to 2023.

Active in national higher education circles, Ruscio has served on the boards of the Council of Independent Colleges and the Association of American Colleges & Universities (AAC&U). He has also served as national president of Omicron Delta Kappa, the national leadership society founded at Washington and Lee in 1914. He recently served on the board of the American Civil War Museum and currently serves on the boards of Skidmore College in New York, the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, and the Collegiate School in Richmond.

Ruscio is the author of “The Leadership Dilemma in Modern Democracy” (2004) as well as numerous papers and articles. In recognition of his scholarly and professional accomplishments, Washington and Lee’s chapter of Phi Beta Kappa inducted Ruscio as an alumni member in 2008. He has also received the Jepson School’s James MacGregor Burns Award for contributions to leadership studies, the Superintendent’s Award from the Virginia Military Institute, and honorary degrees from Roanoke College and Hampden-Sydney College.

Ruscio is married to Kimberley O’Donnell Ruscio. Their son, Matthew, is a 2012 graduate of St. Lawrence University. He resides in Charlotte with his wife, Brooke, and their two children, Oliver and Isabelle.