Geneva Names Twentieth President

Dr. Calvin L. Troup Becomes President Elect of Geneva College

(Beaver Falls, PA) Geneva College announces that Dr. Calvin Troup is the institution’s president elect, and is expected to take office after commencement this spring. This announcement follows a seven-month presidential search that culminated in a vote of approval by Geneva’s Board of Trustees at the end of last week. Dr. Troup will be Geneva’s twentieth president since the institution was founded in 1848.

Dr. Troup comes to Geneva from Duquesne University’s Department of Communication and Rhetorical Studies where he directed the university’s nationally-ranked Rhetoric Ph.D. Program. Before serving at Duquesne for 20 years, he also taught at Penn State in University Park, PA and Indiana University in Bloomington, IN. He graduated from Geneva College with a bachelor’s degree (1983), and later a master’s degree (1991) and a Ph.D. (1994) from Pennsylvania State University. He has been published extensively, particularly on the topics of rhetoric, religion and communication. He also served on the Board of Directors and Board of Corporators for Geneva College for many years.

Presidential Search Committee Chair Bonnie Weir says, “We had a strong pool of candidates from which to choose. Dr. Calvin Troup rose to the top as an outstanding academic and a leader with a cooperative spirit and the tenacity to achieve enduring success."

Dr. Troup notes, “There have been a long line of Presidents who have maintained Geneva’s Reformed Christian heritage and leadership in academically excellent Christian higher education – and it will be a privilege to follow in their footsteps. I’m looking forward to serving this educational community, which I know and love so well, and helping it to thrive, grow and be even more productive for the Lord in the future.”

In addition to the chair, the Presidential Search Committee includes: Board of Trustees Chair Joye Huston; Board of Trustees members David J. Schaefer, Jay Roy and John Edgar; Geneva Political Science Professor Jay Neikirk; Accounting Professor Amy Russin; Academic Dean Melinda Stephens; and Executive Vice President Larry Griffith.

After Dr. Troup’s presidency is being announced internally in the morning, he will be introduced to students, faculty and staff at Skye Lounge in a brief event in the Student Center at 3 p.m. Bonnie Weir will present Dr. Troup to the community, who will share his first message as president. The student choir, The Genevans, will sing the alma mater and Psalm 96A, and an informal gathering over cake and punch will follow.

Before Dr. Troup takes office in the spring, Interim President Bill Edgar will continue to fill the position. Dr. Edgar, previous Chair of Geneva’s Board of Trustees, has served as Interim President since President Ken Smith left the college for another post in July, 2015.

Geneva College invites students to step forward with an academically excellent, Christ-centered and affordable education. Offering more than 40 traditional undergraduate majors, Adult Degree Programs with fully online and campus-based options, and high-demand advanced graduate degrees, Geneva's programs are recognized for their high quality. U.S. News & World Report consistently ranks Geneva as a Top 10 Regional Best Value with one of the Top 100 engineering programs in the nation. Adhering to the inerrancy of Scripture, a Geneva education is grounded in Reformed Christian faith, as well as in a core curriculum designed to prepare students vocationally to think, write and communicate well in today’s world.