When Ron Swain begins his appointment on Nov. 1 as Southwestern’s new chaplain and director of religious and spiritual life, he will bring with him more than 40 years of experience in higher education administration.

A retired clergyman of the Texas Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church, Swain began his professional higher education career in the Student Affairs Division at Duquesne in 1970. In 1972 he moved to North Carolina State University at Raleigh, where he worked as a counselor and area coordinator in residence life and an adjunct member of the faculty. Swain later served in several positions at Raleigh’s Shaw University, the oldest historically black college in the Southeastern United States. His last position at Shaw was vice president for institutional advancement and planning. In 1994 he became national director for the final phase of The United Negro College Fund’s Campaign 2000. He subsequently served as the 15th president of Wiley College in Marshall, Texas. In August 2000, he joined Southwestern University as senior advisor to the president for strategic planning and assessment, serving as the University’s accreditation liaison to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC).

“We are fortunate to have such an experienced leader in higher education and spiritual life joining us at Southwestern,” said Laura Skandera Trombley, SU president. “Ron knows our university well and is widely respected on campus and throughout the Georgetown community. I encourage our faculty, staff, students and alumni to extend their warmest welcome to Dr. Swain.”

A recognized leader in higher education, he formed Swain Consulting Services in 2013, serving as a consultant to the U.S. Department of Education’s Division of Postsecondary Education. He has also served on the National Council for the Graduate School of Education and Human Development at The George Washington University.

Swain is active in the First United Methodist Church, the Rotary Club of Georgetown, and the Providence Place Board of Directors in San Antonio. He is past chairman of Georgetown’s Economic Development Commission and the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce. He is also past chair of the board of directors for The Georgetown Project, Habitat for Humanity of Williamson County, and Texas Life-sciences Collaboration Center (TLCC). He currently serves as chair of The Williamson County Institute for Excellence in Nonprofits, and is also a member of the President’s Advisory Council for the Texas Methodist Foundation.

He is the recipient of numerous awards including the Owen W. Sherrill Lifetime Achievement Award from the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce which he received in 2012.

Swain holds undergraduate and masters’ degrees from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA; from the Shaw Divinity School in Raleigh, NC; the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and a Doctor of Education degree from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C. In addition, he has completed postdoctoral study at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education’s Institute on Educational Management.