Dr. Sean Decatur, the 19th president of Kenyon College
Golden, CO – Codon Learning has appointed Dr. Sean Decatur as Chairman of its Advisory Board. Dr. Sean Decatur became the 19th president of Kenyon College on July 1, 2013. He arrived at Kenyon after serving since July 2008 as the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Oberlin College. He was also a professor of chemistry and biochemistry at Oberlin. Formerly, he served as associate dean of Mount Holyoke College and as a faculty member, where he helped establish a leading research program in biophysical chemistry. Dr. Decatur serves on several national advisory boards, including the Educational Advisory Board of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the Board on Life Sciences of the National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Decatur was named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2017 and was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2019.
A lifelong champion for the liberal arts and an emerging voice in the national conversation about higher education, Dr. Decatur has contributed articles online to the Washington Post, the Chronicle of Higher Education and the New York Times Room for Debate commentary forum. He has twice appeared at SXSWedu and been a guest on the Ezra Klein Show on Vox.
Dr. Decatur is an influential advocate of inclusive, evidence-based teaching practices, such as active learning. Throughout his 25-year career, he has supported the development of rigorous, data-informed methods for teaching science, including externally-funded projects to develop an interdisciplinary introductory chemistry and biology course and research-based advanced courses.
On his appointment, Dr. Decatur says: “Codon Learning’s vision is compelling: build a customizable system that supports student learning by lowering the barriers that faculty face in implementing evidence-based teaching methods. Their system promises to bring proven effective teaching methods to STEM classrooms, and in turn have a significant impact on the learning outcomes for all students.”