Marci Sortor

Provost and Dean of the College, St. Olaf College

Marci Sortor has served St. Olaf College as its Provost and Dean since 2011. Some of her recent activities have involved working to enhance student access to high impact learning experiences, including off-campus study, mentored undergraduate research, advising, internships, and learning communities. Recent presentations include speaking on interdisciplinary teaching, the design of interdisciplinary learning spaces, partnerships between Chief Academic Officers and Academic Affairs Committees of college and university boards, international study and global education, partnerships between CAOs and Chief Advancement Officers, and peer review of scholarship. In addition to serving on the ACAD board of directors, she currently serves on the boards of the Red Cross (southeast MN), and the Norwegian American Historical Association, and on the Oversight Committee of the Lever Press. Sortor received the PhD from the University of California San Diego, and held a teaching and research fellowship at Stanford University before moving to the Midwest to join the history faculty at Grinnell College. In addition to teaching, she served in various capacities at Grinnell. Her administrative roles at Grinnell included Associate Dean of the College, Vice President of Institutional Planning, and interim Vice President for College and Alumni Relations. She continues to research and write on the history of medieval cities, their trade networks, and financial connections among city dwellers.