Roger Taylor Named Knox President Emeritus

The Knox College Board of Trustees voted recently to award the title of President Emeritus to Roger Taylor, who retired in 2011 after ten years as president of the College.

A 1963 Knox graduate, Taylor was president of Knox from 2001 to 2011. He had been a member of the College's Board of Trustees since 1988, and Chair of the Board in 2000-2001. He was named Interim President in 2001, and formally installed the next year.

"The Board conferred upon Roger the honorific title of "President Emeritus" in recognition of his success in sustaining academic excellence at Knox, boosting institutional self-confidence and defining a clear path toward financial impregnability," said David Schulz '74, vice chair of the Board of Trustees. "The title perpetuates Roger's connection to the College and honors his wise leadership through a financially stressful decade."

During Taylor's time in office, Knox's enrollment increased from 1,000 to more than 1,400; academic, athletic and residential facilities were expanded and renovated; and the curriculum was revised to better express the educational mission of the College and meet the needs of today's students.

Taylor, who grew up on a farm in Fulton County, Illinois, earned his bachelor's degree in English at Knox in 1963. After serving in the United States Navy, he then received a law degree from Northwestern University and practiced law in Chicago for 30 years with the firm of Kirkland & Ellis, where he continues Of Counsel.