Lawrence M. Schall

Lawrence M. Schall has served since 2005 as the president of Oglethorpe University in Atlanta, Georgia. Under his leadership, the university has increased net assets three-fold while reducing total debt in half; doubled net tuition revenue; increased the endowment by 50 percent; expanded enrollment by over 50 percent; established strategic entrepreneurial partnerships; and experienced historic levels of philanthropic giving. In addition, Schall has developed deeper connections between the university and the city of Atlanta. In 2017, he secured a $50 million gift from an alumnus to establish the Hammack School of Business, the largest gift to a liberal arts college to establish a school of business. In 2018, Oglethorpe launched Flagship 50, a merit scholarship program that matches all 50 states’ flagship universities’ tuition for qualified students. Previously, Schall served for 15 years at Swarthmore College, concluding as vice president for administration. Early in his career, he was a trial attorney specializing in civil rights litigation. He serves on the executive committees of the Georgia Independent College Association, Atlanta Regional Council for Higher Education, and Council on International Educational Exchange. Schall earned a bachelor’s degree from Swarthmore College, a JD from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and an EdD from the University of Pennsylvania, where he also served as director of the executive doctorate program in higher education and adjunct faculty member in the Graduate School of Education.