William Hamm Interim President Wartburg College

William E. Hamm, an alumnus from the Class of 1966, became interim president on July 1, 2008.  For the past nine years, Hamm served as president of The Foundation for Independent Higher Education (FIHE) in Washington, D.C.  Dr. Hamm leads the college for the 2008-2009 academic year.

As president of FIHE, Hamm oversaw a national network of 34 state and regional associations of private colleges and universities with 650 member institutions.  The FIHE network develops resources for private colleges and works to engage institutions in collaborative endeavors.  Under Hamm’s leadership, FIHE implemented its UPS National Venture Fund program, which awarded over 100 incentive grants to encourage innovative approaches to addressing challenges facing private colleges.  In recent years, much of FIHE’s work revolved around its signature initiative, First Opportunity Partners, which aims to help colleges broaden access and improve success for first-generation, low-income, minority and new American students.

Hamm served as president at Waldorf College for 13 years (1986-99), guiding its transition from two-year to offering the baccalaureate degree.

Prior to that, Hamm served as vice president for university relations and admissions at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks.  He received an honorary alumnus award from CLU in 1986.  The university presents an annual William E. Hamm Outstanding Service Award to individuals engaged in exemplary community service.

Hamm also served as a consultant at Huntingdon College (Alabama) and began his career as an admission officer at Wartburg (1967-1975).

He earned his master’s degree in political science at the University of Iowa.  He also completed the college management program at Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Wartburg awarded him the Doctor of Laws degree, honoris causa, in 1985, as have Davis & Elkins College (2002) and the University of Charleston (2008). He received the Wartburg Alumni Citation in 2000.

Hamm has also been a leader in a variety of local, state and national organizations.  For the past eight years, he has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Council of Independent Colleges and the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities.  Other leadership roles include Iowa Humanities Board (chair), the Iowa Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (Chair), Council of College Presidents of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (Chair), Iowa College Foundation, Lutheran Educational Conference of North America, among others.

In 1999, Hamm was named Iowa’s Global Citizen of the Year in recognition of his work with international programs.  In recognition of his service to FIHE, the foundation’s board is funding an annual William E. Hamm Scholarship at Wartburg College.