Michael S. Roth

Michael S. Roth -- historian, curator, author and public advocate for liberal education -- became the 16th president of Wesleyan University on July 1, 2007.

During his tenure, Roth has overseen the launch of academic programs at Wesleyan such as the Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life and the Shapiro Center for Writing, as well as five new interdisciplinary colleges emphasizing research and cohort building in the areas of the environment, film, East Asian studies, integrative sciences, and design and engineering. Under his leadership, Wesleyan had its most ambitious fundraising campaign in its history, raising more than $482 million, primarily for financial aid. Additionally, Roth has undertaken a number of initiatives that have made a Wesleyan education more affordable for many and more accessible to students from under-represented groups. In the wake of the Supreme Court’s affirmative action decision in July 2023, he announced a suite of new recruiting efforts aimed at enhancing diverse campus learning including an end to admissions preference for legacy applicants and the creation of an African Scholars Program.

A professor in history and the humanities since 1983, Roth was the founding director of the Scripps College Humanities Institute in Claremont, California, a center for intellectual exchange across disciplines. He developed a reputation as a leader in the arts community through his accomplishments as associate director of the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles and his success as president of the California College of the Arts in enhancing that institution’s academic quality, national reputation and financial strength.

An intellectual historian, Roth has published several books centered on how people make sense of the past, the most recent being "The Student, A Short History." His "Beyond the University: Why Liberal Education Matters" was recognized with the Association of American Colleges & Universities’ Frederic W. Ness Award for a book that best illuminates the goals and practices of a contemporary liberal education. Roth’s 2019 book, "Safe Enough Spaces: A Pragmatist’s Approach to Inclusion, Free Speech, and Political Correctness," addresses some of the most contentious issues in American higher education, including affirmative action, safe spaces, and questions of free speech.

A native of Brooklyn, Roth completed his undergraduate studies at Wesleyan in three years and went on to earn his doctorate in history at Princeton University.