Brian C. Mitchell

Brian C. Mitchell is the current president of Bucknell University. Mitchell became president in July 2004. Prior to becoming president of Bucknell, Mitchell served as president of Washington and Jefferson College from 1998 to 2004, as well as president of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Pennsylvania and a program officer in the National Endowment for the Humanities. He has also been the chairman of the Pennsylvania Selection Committee for Rhodes Scholarships. He currently serves as a commissioner of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, and is a member of the board of directors of the Greater Pittsburgh Council of the Boy Scouts of America. He formerly served on the board of the Pennsylvania Humanities Council. He also chaired the history department at Anna Maria College, and taught at George Mason University, the University of Massachusetts Lowell, Bentley College, Lesley College, New Hampshire College, and the University of Rochester.

Mitchell holds degrees from the University of Rochester and Merrimack College. He specializes in 19th century urban, ethnic, and labor history. His 1988 book, The Paddy Camps: The Irish of Lowell, 1821-61, combines those specialties.

Mitchell's wife is Maryjane Murphy Mitchell. The couple have two adult children, Jeffrey and Patrick.

Awards

• Haskell Award for Distinguished Teaching in Humanities from the University of Massachusetts Lowell
• Albert J. Beveridge Grant for Research in American History from the American Historical Association