Eckerd College President James J. Annarelli addresses a townhall on Feb. 4 to announce his retirement in 2027. Photos by Penh Alicandro ’22
During a campuswide meeting Feb. 4, Eckerd College leaders announced that President James J. Annarelli will retire effective June 30, 2027.
“Serving the Eckerd College community for 36 years has been an absolute honor and I am grateful to the Board of Trustees, faculty, staff and students for embracing me as their president since 2022,” Annarelli said. “In this next phase of my life, I’m looking forward to spending more time with my wife, Anna, and children, and enjoying the relationships I’ve built over my tenure. I am confident that now is the right time for Eckerd to find its next president who will build on the stable foundation of an excellent academic program shepherded by innovative faculty, and a one-of-a-kind campus life program championed by a thoughtful staff in partnership with our outstanding and civic-minded student body.”
At the meeting, Eckerd College Board Chair Ian Johnson ’89 expressed to faculty and staff the College’s deep gratitude to Annarelli, who accepted the interim position in 2022, following the departure of the College’s fifth president. Annarelli was appointed as Eckerd College’s sixth president in 2023 in recognition of his steady leadership through a changing educational landscape.
“President Annarelli has guided the College with a sincere, student-centered approach, and it is now our charge to identify a leader who can navigate today’s higher education landscape while preserving the close, values-driven community Jim has so thoughtfully cultivated,” said Johnson, of Boston, institutional portfolio manager at Fidelity Investments.
Board of Trustees Chair Ian Johnson ’89 thanked President Annarelli for his service and introduced the leadership of the Presidential Search Committee.
Annarelli’s retirement announcement will provide the College a year to find a successor. In preparation, the Board of Trustees has contracted with the search firm Issacson, Miller, and appointed Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees Susan A. Slaugenhaupt, Ph.D. ’85., as the search committee chair. Issacson, Miller—a highly regarded executive search firm—has assisted other institutions in their presidential searches including Bates, Hamilton and Middlebury colleges.
“Eckerd College’s strength lies in its commitment to educating students beyond the classroom, through experiential learning, global engagement, research, and service,” said Slaugenhaupt, a Professor at Harvard Medical School and an Investigator at Massachusetts General Hospital.
“President Annarelli understood the transformative power of these experiences, and his student-centered leadership has built a dynamic campus culture that will continue to produce outstanding graduates for years to come.”
During Annarelli’s tenure, the College rebounded from the unprecedented impact of back-to-back hurricane landfalls that resulted in closure of the campus for a month. Under his leadership, the College advanced several significant campus improvements including the completion of a new beach volleyball complex, a beachside pavilion and a new dining center. Additionally, alumni, trustees, and friends of the college committed to transformational support including Jim Moore ’68, M.D. and Judy Moore’s $4 million gift to support and name the Johnston-Ford Scholars Program and an annual award to honor the academic contributions made by a faculty member each year.
“Jim Annarelli’s relationship with the alumni, because he served as the dean of students for many of them, has been a boon for fundraising and advancing the mission of the College,” said Susan Russ Walker ’77, an Eckerd College trustee, former Chief Magistrate Judge for the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama, and vice chair of the search committee.
Annarelli, 70, is a first-generation college graduate. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in theology and environmental studies and Master of Arts degree in theology from St. John’s University, New York, and a Master of Philosophy degree and Doctor of Philosophy degree in religion and society from Drew University. He also completed the Institute for Educational Management program of the Graduate School of Education at Harvard University. He is the author of Academic Freedom and Catholic Higher Education (1987).
Annarelli began his career as a member of the faculty of Theology and Religious Studies at St. John’s University and came to Eckerd in 1990. Since then, he has served as an academic coordinator and faculty member, and later as assistant director of Eckerd’s adult degree completion program; as inaugural associate dean and director of the College’s Center for the Applied Liberal Arts; and, for 20 years, as Eckerd’s vice president for student life and dean of students.
Founded in 1958 as Florida Presbyterian College, Eckerd College—which was renamed in 1972 after a donation from pharmacy executive and philanthropist Jack Eckerd—still maintains a covenant with the Presbyterian Church (USA). Florida’s only national private liberal arts college, Eckerd is one of the schools featured in the book Colleges That Change Lives and is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa National Honor Society. Last year, its 188-acre waterfront campus on the Gulf Coast attracted 1,760 students from 53 U.S.states and territories and 30 countries.
