John Coleman has positioned the University of Minnesota’s College of Liberal Arts (CLA) as a destination college since becoming dean in 2014. While other liberal arts schools have seen enrollment declines, CLA has exceeded its enrollment targets in six of the past seven years. Coleman has doubled the number of scholarships awarded each year and brought an innovative new Liberal Arts Engagement Hub to life in the refurbished Pillsbury Hall, reopening soon. Today, 16 CLA programs rank in the top 25 worldwide.

In July, Coleman concluded the college’s largest-ever capital campaign, raising $177 million for the arts, humanities, and social sciences.