David Oxtoby

David W. Oxtoby became the ninth president of Pomona College on July 1, 2003. An internationally noted chemist, he previously served as dean of physical sciences at the University of Chicago. At Pomona, he holds a coterminous appointment as president and professor of chemistry. Before coming to Pomona, he was associated with the University of Chicago for nearly three decades, with brief interludes to serve as a visiting professor at such places as the University of Paris; the University of...See more

David W. Oxtoby became the ninth president of Pomona College on July 1, 2003. An internationally noted chemist, he previously served as dean of physical sciences at the University of Chicago. At Pomona, he holds a coterminous appointment as president and professor of chemistry. Before coming to Pomona, he was associated with the University of Chicago for nearly three decades, with brief interludes to serve as a visiting professor at such places as the University of Paris; the University of Bristol in Great Britain; and the University of Sydney in Australia. Oxtoby is a fellow of the American Physical Society and a member of the American Chemical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. After earning his bachelor's degree, summa cum laude, from Harvard University, he went on to earn his Ph.D. at the University of California, Berkeley. As a research chemist, he is author or co-author of more than 165 scientific articles on such subjects as light scattering, chemical reaction dynamics and phase transitions. In addition to co-authoring Principles of Modern Chemistry and Chemistry: Science of Change, he has received fellowships from the Guggenheim, von Humboldt, Dreyfus, Sloan, Danforth and National Science foundations. See less