Gregory S. Prince, Jr.

Who is Gregory S. Prince, Jr.?

Gregory Smith Prince, Jr. became Hampshire College's fourth president in 1989 and retired in 2005.

In his 15 years at the helm of Hampshire, Prince worked to broaden the public's awareness of the value and role of liberal arts education, reinforcing the understanding that the liberal arts are about developing an attitude of mind, not simply conveying a body of knowledge.

Prince built partnerships with organizations outside of education and with K-12 education, stressing the importance of strong relationships between higher education institutions and their surrounding communities and the responsibility of higher education to society as a whole.

As president, he envisioned a "Cultural Village," a cluster of independent organizations with complementary missions located around the campus. The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, a center for international picture book art, drew 90,000 visitors to the Hampshire campus and Amherst during its first year. The National Yiddish Book Center, shares the treasures of rescued Yiddish Books, representing a thousand years of Jewish history and culture. Lastly, New England Wetlands, Inc., grows 118 species of plants for use in restoration of wetlands throughout the region.