By Caroline J. Hanna
The Amherst Board of Trustees has appointed Howard Gardner, the John H. and Elisabeth A. Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and John S. Middleton ’77, a Philadelphia-area businessman, to six-year terms on the college’s board.
Gardner, best known for his theory of multiple intelligences, is the author of more than 20 books. He chairs the steering committee for Project Zero, an educational research group, and has received many awards and honors, including a MacArthur Fellowship. He holds honorary degrees from many colleges and universities and was named one of the 100 most influential public intellectuals in the world by Foreign Policy and Prospect magazines. Gardner serves on a number of boards, including that of New York’s Museum of Modern Art. He earned both his A.B. in social relations and his doctorate in social psychology from Harvard.
Middleton, an active and longtime Amherst volunteer, earned the college’s Medal for Eminent Service in 2004. He heads his family’s business and is a limited partner in the Philadelphia Phillies. Outside of work he is philanthropically involved with such organizations as the Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church, the Haverford School and the National Foundation for Ectodermal Dysplasias. He helped to coordinate his class’s 10-year reunion and was a key figure in its 25th. He served his class as president and as an associate agent, led the college’s Society of Alumni from 2001 to 2002 and hosted many Amherst events in his hometown of Philadelphia. He holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
The Board of Trustees consists of the college president, 14 term trustees elected and then appointed by the board and six alumni trustees elected by alumni body.