Daniel Porterfield

Daniel R. Porterfield, Ph.D., has served as president of Franklin & Marshall College since 2011. Under his leadership, F&M has developed a visionary strategic plan, an innovative approach to student success, and a distinctive student talent strategy built upon an expanded financial aid program. Porterfield writes and speaks frequently on education issues, including presentations at three White House summits in 2014. He sits on the boards of the College Board and the Lenfest Scholars Foundation, advises Teach For America and the College Advising Corps, and has received awards from the KIPP and “I Have A Dream” foundations. In 2016, he was named one of the “Sixteen Most Innovative People in Higher Education” by Washington Monthly and one of eleven “Champions of Change for College Opportunity” by the White House, and helped to found and launch the American Talent Initiative—an alliance of top colleges and universities committed to expanding college opportunity. Prior to leading F&M, Porterfield served as a Senior Vice President at his alma mater, Georgetown University, and as a senior aide to U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala. He received a Rhodes Scholarship and a Mellon Fellowship in the Humanities, and earned his Ph.D. at The City University of New York Graduate Center.