Robert R. Lindgren is an academic administrator, and the 15th president of Randolph-Macon College.

Early life and education

Lindgren was born and raised in Muskegon, Michigan. Lindgren graduated

Omicron Delta Kappa Omicron Delta Kappa (), also known as The Circle and ODK, is an American collegiate honor society that recognizes leadership and scholarship. It was founded in 1914, at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia and has chartered more t ...

from the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

in 1976. Lindgren earned his J.D. degree from the

Levin College of Law The University of Florida Levin College of Law (UF Law) is the law school of the University of Florida located in Gainesville, Florida. Founded in 1909, it is the oldest operating public law school in Florida and second oldest overall in the stat ...

at UF in 1981 and a master of philosophy degree from

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

in 1978.

Career

Lindgren became interested in higher education administration after he started working in the office of

President Robert Marston. In 1980, while Lindgren was still in law school, he was asked to organize a fundraising campaign for the law school. He did not pursue practicing law, and instead began a career in fundraising and development, first for the Levin College of Law and then for the University of Florida. The $400 million raised during his 1985 campaign was the 3rd largest campaign ever completed by a public university at the time. Lindgren served as vice president of development and alumni relations at Johns Hopkins from 1994 to 2005. The first fundraising campaign he led reached its initial goal two years early and went on to record $1.52 billion in gifts, the fifth largest campaign ever in higher education at that time. The second campaign had reached nearly $1.9 billion in commitments when he departed the university. Randolph-Macon’s choice of Lindgren as its 15th president, in 2005, was noted as part of a trend toward colleges and universities hiring presidents with fundraising experience. Lindgren’s tenure has been noted for his success in engaging alumni and raising funds to build new programs and buildings. In 2018, Randolph-Macon completed a $125 million fundraising campaign, which included building a $17.5 million science building. It was named for the college’s major donor, the late Macon F. Brock Jr., a member of the class of RMC 1964 and co-founder Dollar Tree Inc. Under Lindgren’s leadership, the liberal arts curriculum of Randolph-Macon grew to include health sciences, including a bachelor's degree in nursing and a graduate degree in physician assistant studies. The college also added an engineering degree. Lindgren has chaired the Council of Independent Colleges Virginia and the ''Virginia United Methodist Conference’s Association of Educational Institutions''. In July 2010, he was appointed to Gov. Bob McDonnell’s Commission on Higher Education Reform, Innovation and Investment, which was tasked with recommending ways to improve college affordability, increase higher education attainability in Virginia and increase the number of students studying science, technology, engineering and math.

Personal life

Lindgren is married to Cheryl Lindgren. They have three adult children.

References

External links

Official Profile
Lindgren, Robert R. Randolph–Macon College University of Florida alumni Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Fredric G. Levin College of Law alumni {{US-academic-administrator-20C-stub