Dear Faculty and Staff,  

On behalf of the Board of Trustees, it is with great enthusiasm that I announce that the 17th President of Austin College will be Rebecca Cantor, PhD.  

Dr. Cantor is currently Provost and Chief Academic Officer at Spring Hill College, a private liberal arts institution in Mobile, Alabama, a role she has held since 2022.  In addition, Dr. Cantor has previously held positions as Assistant Provost and Writing Program Administrator at Azusa Pacific University, Chair of the Liberal Arts at Savannah College of Art and Design, and as a tenured professor of English—and has published two books of poetry. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Fairfield University, a master's degree in English from Loyola Marymount, and a Ph.D. in English from Claremont Graduate University. You can read more about her on the Presidential Search page of the Austin College website. 

We conducted a rigorous, nationwide search and there were many outstanding candidates, but ultimately Dr. Cantor stood out above the rest.  In addition to a breadth of experience in liberal arts higher education, Dr. Cantor will bring leadership that is based on collegiality, collaboration, and transparency, together with interminable energy and a deep desire for the College to succeed.  We are confident that, under Dr. Cantor’s leadership Austin College will continue the positive and upward momentum that we have experienced under the great leadership of President Steven O’Day.   

President O’Day will remain at the helm through June 2026, at which time Dr. Cantor will assume the role.

On behalf of the Board of Trustees and the Presidential Search Committee, I want to express our confidence that Dr. Cantor has the vision, the experience, the energy, and the heart to successfully lead Austin College in our next chapter. I also want to express my sincere thanks to the faculty, staff, students, and trustees who served on the Search Committee.  Their tireless efforts and unswerving devotion to the mission of Austin College made this successful search possible. We are excited about our future!

Sincerely,

L. Scott Austin
Chair, Austin College Board of Trustees