Icon (Close Menu)

Logout

Lyon College Names W. Joseph King President

2 min read

Lyon College of Batesville announced Monday that its board of trustees selected W. Joseph King as its next president starting July 1. 

King succeeds Donald V. Weatherman, who is retiring.

The new president and his family plan to move move to Batesville this summer, according to a news release.

“Dr. King’s broad experience, vision and commitment to innovative liberal education will strengthen and further Lyon’s mission of shaping world changers,” Board Chairman Perry Wilson of Little Rock said in the release.

King, who is from Texas, has a Ph.D. in human-computer interaction from the University of Washington and a bachelors’ in computer science and experimental psychology from Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas.

From its founding on the frontier in 1872, Lyon has remained true to its mission,” he said. “As it approaches its sesquicentennial, it has the potential to define and become a 21st century liberal arts college of the first order. I am excited to be a part of that process and look forward to getting started in July.”

King was previously senior adviser to the president and interim executive director of the National Institute for Technology in Liberal Education (NITLE) at Emory & Henry College Meadowview, Virginia. He has also been the NITLE’s executive director and worked at Rice University, Southwestern University, University of Washington and the Texas Christian University Neeley School of Business. At the Neeley School, he was a finalist for Most Inspiring Professor.

King was also a research scientist at the Human Interface Technology Laboratory at the University of Washington, the Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute and Hughes Research Laboratories. He has served as a consultant and advisor to Hanson Robotics, Microsoft, Interval Research, Walt Disney Imagineering and Atari Games.

King co-founded Grifiti, a technology accessories provider. He served as president of Zama Networks, as chief scientist of network traffic management firm F5 Networks and as the managing director of Trinity River Ventures.

King has also raised more than $100 million in private capital for new ventures and more than $25 million in gifts and grants for nonprofits. He also served on the campaign cabinet that raised more than $125 million for Southwestern University.

Send this to a friend