HOLLAND (WHTC-AM/FM) — Hope College’s President-elect is Matthew Scogin, a member of Hope’s Class of 2002. Scogin is the school’s 14th president, starting July 1, 2019, following interim president, Dennis Voskuil, who stepped in after John Knapp’s four-year term.
“I believe in Hope’s ability to change a life,” he said, in a YouTube video posted by the school as the announcement was emailed to the student body, faculty, and staff on Friday afternoon, just before 3 p.m., Dec. 7, 2018. He went on to speak of the need for hope, in all of its senses, for a world that needed was hope as a transformative aspiration.
“Every other college or university that I can think of is named after a person or a geography,” he said in the video. “And Hope is named after an ideal.”
In announcing the decision, Karl Droppers, Hope’s board of trustees chairman, called Scogin “a strategic thinker who has worked on the most important economic and social issues facing our nation, Matt will bring intellectual depth and visionary leadership to Hope College. Matt personifies the mission of Hope, as he has led a life of leadership and service at the highest levels of business and government. He is also a passionate follower of Christ, brings a strong commitment to inclusive excellence and diversity, and articulates the college’s mission with contagious and inspiring enthusiasm. This makes him the perfect leader for Hope’s next chapter.”
Scogin and his wife, Sarah, who is also a Hope alum (the couple met at Hope), have three children: Sophie, Lucy and Oliver. He was named Hope’s Young Alumni of the Year in 2014.
Scogin is chief administrative officer at the global financial advisory firm of Perella Weinberg Partners in New York City, a firm he joined in 2014, according to information provided by Hope College on his new Hope page.
He majored in both political science and economics at Hope and earned a masters at Harvard. Here’s a quick look at his resume:
2009-14: Chief of staff, New York Stock Exchange / Euronext.
2008-09: Vice President and senior advisor to the CEO at Wachovia Corporation.
2006-08: Senior advisor in the Office of Domestic Finance at the U.S. Department of Treasury.
2006: Fiscal policy adviser to former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney
2005: Robert Bosch Foundation fellow in Germany.
2004: Earning his masters in public policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University (graduated in 2005).
2002-03: Legislative director and campaign manager for former Michigan State Rep. Barbara VanderVeen. This, after interning in the White House Office of Political Affairs in 2001.
In addtion to serving on Hope’s board of trustees, he’s served on these boards as well: Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) Foundation; and Restore NYC. He served as the pro bono CFO for Lower Manhattan Community Church.
