Walter M. Bortz III became the twenty-third president of Hampden-Sydney College in July of 2000. Dr. Bortz has guided the College to record levels of enrollment and fund raising during his tenure, and has spearheaded the effort to draft a new long range plan that incorporated a master plan for a new library and stadium, among other renovations and improvements to the campus.

President Bortz is widely involved in the leadership of higher education organizations in the Commonwealth and beyond. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the Council of Independent Colleges in Virginia, a trustee of the Virginia Foundation of Independent Colleges, the head of the President’s Council for the Old Dominion Athletic Conference, and has served on the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Universities. He also is active in the Council of Independent Colleges.  He is a member of the NCAA President’s Council Committee.

President Bortz has served on the Board of Trustees of the Kiski School, a private secondary institution in Pennsylvania; Mount Vernon College, a women’s college in Washington, DC, and he is a member of the Board of Trustees of Bethany College in West Virginia.

Dr. Bortz enjoyed a wide-ranging career in higher education administration in both large and small, public and private, institutions for thirty-three years before assuming his position at Hampden-Sydney College, having served as Vice President for Administrative and Information Services at The George Washington University, and as Vice President for Institutional Advancement, Acting Vice President for Administration, and Acting Vice President for Student Services at the University of Hartford. He also held positions in enrollment management, including Executive Director of Admissions and Student Financial Assistance at the University of Hartford, Director of Admissions at East Carolina University, Dean of Admissions at Texas Christian University, and Director of Admissions at his alma mater, Bethany College.

Dr. Bortz resides on the Hampden-Sydney College campus with his wife, Lorraine. They are the parents of a daughter, Catherine, a physician, and a son, Walter, a communications technologist. Dr. Bortz received his undergraduate degree in Biology from Bethany College in Bethany, West Virginia. He has done graduate work at Texas Christian University and West Virginia University, and has a doctorate in policy studies from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C.