Past Presidents

G.W. Thompson - 1878

Thompson established the Burlington Commercial Institute—the original name of Champlain College—in 1878 on the corner of Church and College Streets. He also taught penmanship at Burlington High School. By the time he left Burlington in 1882, the Institute had become known as the Queen City Commercial College. It went through two interim principals until 1884.

E. George Evans - 1884

Born in 1859, Evans graduated from the Whitestown Seminary in Chautauqua, N.Y., taught at the Kinderhook Academy in Kinderhook, N.Y., then graduated from Utica Business College in 1881. He purchased the College in 1884, renaming it Burlington Business College. He expanded its offerings and established its reputation as a business college with a high placement percentage rate for its graduates. He was principal of the College until he sold it in 1920.

Arthur Gordon Tittemore - 1920

Born on a farm in Franklin, Vermont, in 1891, Tittemore was head of the Concord (New Hampshire) Community College's commercial department by age 20. After seven years as principal of the Lowell Community College in Massachusetts, he purchased Burlington Business College in 1920. He remained principal until he sold the school to Bader Brouilette in 1956.

C. Bader Brouilette - 1956

Brouilette attended Columbia Teacher's College, was vice president of Drake College from 1933-1936, and then became assistant to the superintendent of the Berkshire School in Massachusetts. He left academia to join his uncle in the acoustical tile business in Hartford, Conn. In 1955 he expanded the Bader Company to Vermont, and the Brouilettes moved to South Burlington. After a chance encounter with Tittemore at a Rotary meeting—at which he learned that Burlington Business College was for sale—Brouilette and Albert Jensen purchased the College. Brouilette marketed and advertised, and the College expanded. In 1958 he changed the name to Champlain College, moved it to the Hill Section of the city, and oversaw its expansion to 14 buildings by the time he retired.

Robert A. Skiff - 1977

Born on what later became known as Pearl Harbor Day—December 7, 1941—Skiff was educated in Vermont schools, graduating from Middlebury College. He received his M.Ed. from Springfield College and his Ph.D. from the University of Northern Colorado. After teaching in Newport, Vermont, he became dean of students at Champlain College, then vice president, and succeeded Brouilette as president in 1977. Under his stewardship from 1977-1992, Champlain's academic program and facilities grew. Skiff is currently the co-founder and principal of the Vermont Commons School in South Burlington.

Roger H. Perry - 1992

Originally from Massachusetts, Perry served in the Peace Corps in the Marshall Islands and received his undergraduate degree in economics from Dartmouth College and his Ph.D. in administration from Syracuse University. Prior to Champlain, Perry was a member of the graduate faculty at Washington University in St. Louis and an associate superintendent of the St. Louis School system. He was also a management extension specialist at Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations and he taught at Cardigan Mountain School in New Hampshire. Perry came to Champlain in 1982 as vice president for academic affairs, and later became provost. He succeeded Skiff as president in 1992. During his tenure, Perry instituted 16 new bachelor's degree programs, established the College's first master's degree, established an online learning division, initiated international programs and brought industry-related organizations on campus.

David F. Finney - 2005

Raised on a farm in Mercer, Pennsylvania, the fifth of seven children, Champlain's seventh president received his B.A. from Westminster College. Finney earned a master of arts in higher education from Bowling Green State University, and both a master of science and a doctorate in higher and adult education from Teachers College, Columbia University. He was director of admissions at Rochester Institute of Technology, then became director of admissions for New York University's seven undergraduate schools. Also a member of the faculty at NYU's Department of Higher Education, Finney became assistant vice president and then associate vice president for Enrollment Services. He became dean of NYU's School of Continuing and Professional Studies in 1999 and he became president of Champlain College on July 1, 2005.