Paul Marthers will serve as vice president for enrollment and dean of undergraduate and graduate admissions at the Institute

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has announced that Paul Marthers will join the Institute as vice president for enrollment and dean of undergraduate and graduate admissions. Marthers, who has more than 25 years of experience in higher and secondary education and administration, is currently the dean of admission at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. He will join Rensselaer on August 1, 2009. 

“As the prominence of Rensselaer has grown both nationally and internationally, we have seen a rapid and remarkable change in our admissions statistics. That includes a 300 percent increase in the number of applications to attend the Institute in the past five years; a more than 40 point rise in the average SAT scores of our incoming freshmen since 2005; and substantial increases in the diversity of our student body, including a 74 percent rise in international students and a 28 percent rise in women students since 2005,” said Rensselaer President Shirley Ann Jackson. “Dr. Marthers brings proven success and commitment in the full range of admissions activity, including a healthy appreciation of the importance of different types of student diversity and a robust financial aid program. I am confident that he will help us continue to accelerate the reputation of Rensselaer and its graduates worldwide.”

As the vice president for enrollment at Rensselaer, Marthers will work closely and inclusively with the President, the Executive Cabinet, the enrollment staff, and the Rensselaer community.  Marthers will provide leadership and direction to the entire enrollment management and financial aid programs, assuming direct responsibility for all programs, functions, facets, and activities leading to undergraduate enrollment at the Institute.  Marthers also will be responsible for the oversight of Undergraduate Admissions, Graduate Admissions, and Financial Aid, as well as working collaboratively with the deans of Undergraduate and Graduate Education.

Marthers is widely recognized for his work with the admissions process as well as his scholarly publications. In 2007, The Chronicle of Higher Education selected him as one of “10 admission deans who are shaping their field.” 

Marthers joined Reed in 2002 after four years at Oberlin College, where he was senior associate director and later director of admissions, responsible for working with the president, deans, and financial director in setting enrollment management policy. In addition to Reed and Oberlin, Marthers has also worked in admissions at Boston College, Vassar College, and Bennington College. He also spent five years at Duke University, first as assistant and then associate director of foundation relations and later as executive assistant to the senior vice president of alumni affairs and development.

During his tenure at Reed, the college has made major strides in its admissions program, increasing its applications by more than 100 percent and reaching record levels for six consecutive years.  The selectivity and diversity of the student body at the college also have been increased significantly during that time. Marthers has served on faculty committees on diversity, sustainability, Web policy, off-campus study, and admissions and financial aid.

In addition to his experience as a university administrator, Marthers has also spent extensive time directly with students as both a counselor and coach. Marthers was the college counseling coordinator for the Math and Science for Minority Students Program at Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass., and from 1996-1998 at Phillips he was a college counselor, a live-in house counselor, and assistant coach of junior varsity baseball. 

Marthers has written more than 20 articles for publication.  His essays on admissions, athletics, college counseling, community engagement, environmental sustainability, faculty compensation, financial aid, liberal arts, multicultural counseling, and women’s college history have appeared in or been accepted by Academe (the Bulletin of the American Association of University Professors), College and University, History of Education Quarterly, The Journal of College Admission, Inside Higher Ed, University Business, in the book College Unranked as well as many others. Marthers serves on the editorial board of College and University and frequently speaks to the national media about higher education.

Marthers earned his B.A. in English from Oberlin College; an M.Ed. in counseling from Boston University; an M.A. in liberal studies from Reed College; and an Ed.D. in higher education management from the University of Pennsylvania.

Marthers will succeed James Nondorf, who recently accepted a position as vice president for enrollment management at the University of Chicago.