Office of the President
- Welcome
- Biography
- Selected Talks and Paper
- Board of Trustees
Dr. Theodore E. Long's Biography
Dr. Theodore E. Long assumed the presidency of Elizabethtown College on Sept. 1, 1996. Prior to coming to Elizabethtown, he served as provost and vice president for academic affairs at Merrimack College in North Andover, Mass., where he led the development of a strategic plan, introduced seven new academic programs, strengthened the quality of the faculty and student body, and increased enrollments. Earlier he taught sociology at George Washington University, Hollins College (now Hollins University) and Washington and Jefferson College. A 1965 graduate of Capital University, where he majored in sociology and philosophy, Long earned a master's degree in sociology from Duke University (1968) and the Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Virginia (1979). In addition, he attended the Institute for Educational Management at Harvard University (1992) and the Harvard Seminar for New Presidents (1997).
Early in Long’s tenure at Elizabethtown, the College completed a strategic plan and a master facilities and land use plan to guide development into the 21st century. By 2002, the College had completed action on all the major objectives of the strategic plan and the first two phases of the facilities plan, including new academic, athletic and residential facilities, along with the creation of a new campus center occupied in August 2002. Strategic initiatives have included 15 new programs (11 academic, 4 athletic), among them the Elizabethtown College Honors Program (sponsored by The Hershey Company), Elizabethtown’s first master’s degree program in occupational therapy and a revised core curriculum. In addition, the College made significant strides in faculty development, diversity and multicultural affairs, and information technology, the latter earning the college a rating as one of America’s "most wired colleges."
During the same period, the qualifications of the College faculty have improved dramatically, from 74 percent Ph.D.s to more than 90 percent, and the College’s enrollment has increased by 15 percent even while admission has become more selective. Long has instituted a multi-year plan to strengthen the College’s financial position, including funded depreciation and growing margins. He led a successful campaign to increase the College’s endowment, raising $26.1 million on an original goal of $20 million, and the College has now entered the public phase of a comprehensive campaign, primarily for capital needs in the master plan, with a goal of $35 million. During his tenure Elizabethtown has been ranked consistently among the top five comprehensive colleges in the North by U.S. News, and the College is positioning itself to compete with comprehensive colleges of the highest quality.
As a scholar, Long has published articles on religious movements, religion and politics, social change, socialization and religious conversion. His articles and reviews have appeared in journals such as Sociological Theory, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Sociology of Religion, Sociological Focus and Contemporary Sociology. He has also written chapters for volumes such as The Handbook on Cults and Sects in America, Religion and Global Order and The Politics of Religion and Social Change. During his academic career, Long also received research grants and contracts to study the Head Start program, physician socialization and religious protest. He served as president of the Association for the Sociology of Religion in 1990-91, and has been active in many other scholarly associations.
Long completed a term as chair of the board of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in Pennsylvania and led its strategic planning committee in 2004-05. He has also chaired the boards of the Pennsylvania Campus Compact and Brethren Colleges Abroad and serves on the boards of the Elizabethtown Economic Development Corporation, the Economic Development Company of Lancaster County and the United Way of Lancaster County. He is a trustee of Capital University, his alma mater, the largest Lutheran university in the country. He is active in the national movement to promote civic engagement among colleges and their students, as well as the Council of Independent Colleges and the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities. In the Lancaster region, Long is a frequent speaker at churches and civic organizations, and writes periodic op-ed pieces on higher education.
Long is married to Betty Grube Long, also a graduate of Capital (voice, music education), who is currently completing a master's degree in religion at Gettysburg Seminary. She is active in community affairs, serving on the boards of Gretna Music and Communities that Care. Their son Edward is a chef in Washington, Pennsylvania, where he lives with his wife Lelia and her daughter Claudia, and their daughter, Rachel Brenner, is a marketing representative for Oasis Outsourcing in Boca Raton, Fla., where she lives with her husband Todd and their daughter Dylan Rae. The Longs are members of Christ Lutheran Church in Elizabethtown, and they have been active in local churches and regional church bodies.
