Liebowitz honored in Time Magazine top 10

President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz has been recognized by Time Magazine as one the top ten college presidents in the country.

In an article that appeared in last week’s issue of Time, Liebowitz was recognized for his commitment to achieving carbon neutrality at the College and also for his willingness to embrace student proposals.

The article, which described Middlebury as a “leafy liberal-arts school,” focused mostly on the environmental initiatives of the campus. Time highlighted Liebowitz’s work to “convince a skeptical board of trustees that going green was the right decision for Middlebury.” The article went on to describe Middlebury as “at the head of the pack” and praised Liebowitz for establishing policy that has made Middlebury “one of the greenest schools in the U.S.”

Liebowitz explained that he was unaware of the top ten ranking when he spoke with the Time reporter. When asked about his initial response to the ranking, Liebowitz said he “laughed.”

“The interview had been about Middlebury’s commitment to environmental sustainability,” said Liebowitz.

Although the actual purpose of the article may have surprised him, Liebowitz was eager to turn over the recognition to the students who initiated the environmental projects on campus. He praised the “foresight and passion” of the group that came to him a few years ago during open office hours and asked to present their ideas for carbon neutrality in front of the trustees. Liebowitz was impressed by their commitment to the project, and after months of working with other students and professors, the group made a presentation in front of the trustees. As a result of these efforts, Middlebury now has a stated goal of carbon neutrality by 2016 and has built a biomass gasification plant that has reduced the College’s carbon footprint by 40 percent.

Students welcomed the national recognition of Middlebury’s president. “I hope it shows other people that Middlebury has global plans,” said Audrey Tolbert ’13. “We’re not just a small liberal arts school in Vermont; we want to be a leader in the environmental movement for other schools here in the U.S. and internationally.”

Jaya Ghosh ’12, an environmental studies major, hoped that the article will “re-inspire the goal of neutrality” among Middlebury students. “2016 is not that far away,” said Ghosh, “and after the opening of the biomass plant, many of the remaining initiatives have become concentrated among administrators.”

Liebowitz hoped that Middlebury’s achievements will inspire other institutions not only to develop a commitment to sustainability, but also to “tap into the free resource of student talent.” Even in light of tight budgets and tough economic times, Liebowitz urged other institutions not to “look only at the bottom line, but to consider the social cost” of environmental initiatives.