In 1999, Hobart and William Smith inaugurated of Mark D. Gearan as 26th president of Hobart College and 15th of William Smith College. Gearan is the former director of the Peace Corps. and served at the White House as Chief of Staff and Director of Communications.
Two years after his appointment, Gearan and the Board of Trustees began HWS 2005, a planning initiative that expressed Hobart and William Smith's commitment to providing an environment where students experience education without boundaries as they are piloted through a rich interdisciplinary curriculum and given the tools to be a force for change in the world.
The campus community further cemented its commitment in 2006, when Gearan introduced HWS 2010, a series of affirmations designed to propel Hobart and William Smith community members to live lives of consequence.
In 2007, Gearan signed the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment, making Hobart and William Smith a charter member of a national effort to reduce emissions of the gases responsible for global warming.
Hobart and William Smith also kicked off an initiative uniting the greater Geneva community and HWS in 2007. The Geneva Partnership aims to enhance community life for the benefit of all, deepening Hobart and William Smith’s engagement with the community and developing students who will be agents for change in their own communities.
Through the boundless interdisciplinary curriculum and community- and world-enhancing initiatives, HWS students are immersed in the ideas, issues and experiences they will encounter in the future as professionals, leaders and citizens.
