Marc C. Conner became the eighth president of Skidmore College on July 1, 2020.

An innovative leader of interdisciplinary academic programs, a longtime advocate of diversity and inclusion initiatives, and a widely published professor of English, Conner joined Skidmore College following over 24 years at Washington and Lee University in Virginia, where he had most recently served as provost and chief academic officer from 2016 to 2020.

Conner has published extensively on modern American, African American, and Irish literature. His dozens of essays and eight books on literature include The Selected Letters of Ralph Ellison, which The New York Times Book Review named a notable book of 2020. He has also produced three lecture series for The Great Courses on Shakespeare and on Irish Literature.