M. Lee Pelton

Under Pelton’s leadership since 2011, Emerson College adopted a strategic plan that outlines five guiding strategies for the institution: Academic Excellence, Civic Engagement, Internationalization and Global Engagement, Innovation, and Financial Strength.

During Pelton’s tenure at Emerson, the College enhanced its Emerson Los Angeles program when it established a new physical presence in Hollywood in 2014 by opening a building for learning and living on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood.

Emerson College played a leading role in the revival of Boston’s theatre district when it purchased and renovated two leading theatres; the Cutler Majestic Theatre and Paramount Center theatres. The purchase and recent renovation of the historic Emerson Colonial Theatre, which hosted the first performances of Porgy and Bess (1935) and Oklahoma! (1943), among other major productions, cemented Emerson’s role in the revival of that section of the city. The theatre is now managed in partnership with Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG).

Emerson College has acquired or redeveloped several buildings to expand the institution’s footprint as outlined in Pelton's vision.

In 2018, the College began expanding its academic footprint beyond its campuses in Boston, Los Angeles and the Netherlands by establishing its Global Portals program on several continents, opening doors for students from around the world to gain an Emerson College degree.

In July 1998, Pelton was appointed as the 22nd president of Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, the first university in the western United States. He expanded the faculty with 26 new tenured-track professorships and increased minority enrollment to 24 percent, up from 11 percent when he started. The school built two new buildings, Ford Hall and Kaneko Commons, and purchased several others adjacent to the campus in downtown Salem, and raised $131 million in a fund-raising campaign. At the end of the 2010 academic year Pelton left to take the same position at Emerson College in Massachusetts, replaced at Willamette by Stephen E. Thorsett.

Pelton holds or has held positions on several educational boards and committees including the American Council on Education, the Harvard University Board of Overseers, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Oregon Symphony, Oregon Health & Science University Foundation, American Association for Higher Education, National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, and National Collegiate Athletic Association. Pelton serves on the board of directors of Portland General Electric, the local publicly traded electric utility. He was married to Kristen Wilson from 1981 to 2005, and to Carol (Leslie) Pelton, manager of the Oregon Cultural Trust from 2006 to 2008. He has three children Clare, Eli, and Sophia.

From 1974 to 1983, while working on his doctorate at Harvard, Pelton served as an instructor and teaching fellow in the English Department. After receiving his PhD in 1983, he became Senior Tutor of Winthrop House, one of Harvard's undergraduate colleges. He left Harvard in 1986, to become Dean of Students at Colgate University in Hamilton, N.Y. He served in that capacity until being named Dean of the College in 1988. Pelton left Colgate in 1991, when he was named dean of Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. While at Dartmouth he was responsible for the largest administrative body of the school, and held an academic appointment in the Department of English.

Marvin Lee Pelton (born September 27, 1950) is an academic administrator and college president. A native of Kansas, United States, he held deanships at Colgate University and Dartmouth College before becoming president of Willamette University in 1998. He served at the Salem, Oregon school until 2011, when he became the 12th president at Emerson College on July 1.

Marvin Lee Pelton was born on September 27, 1950, to Clarence and Rosa Lee Pelton. He has three sisters. He grew up in Wichita, Kansas, where he graduated from Wichita North High School. His father worked as a laborer and later as a manager for the police department for the city of Wichita while his mother acted as a homemaker. In 1974, Pelton graduated from Wichita State University. There he earned a degree in English and psychology, while graduating magna cum laude with a focus in 19th century British literature. He earned a doctorate in English and American literature from Harvard University in 1984.