David C. Joyce

Twelfth president

2003-2011

He received degrees from Pfeiffer University in Misenheimer, North Carolina, Yale University Divinity School and North Carolina State University, as well as a doctorate in human resource development from Vanderbilt University.

He also is an ordained minister in the Methodist Church.

Prior to Ripon, he served as vice president for institutional advancement at Otterbein College in Ohio and president of Union College in Barbourville, Kentucky.

Joyce Lounge in S.N. Pickard Commons

During his tenure at Ripon, renovations were made across campus, Hughes House became Evans Admission Center, the student apartment building was constructed and the Ethical Leadership Institute was inaugurated. Enrollment topped 1,000 and there were expansions in the curriculum, investments in technology, service learning efforts, and added green space and walkways to the campus.

After leaving Ripon, he served as president of Brevard College in North Carolina and Averett University in Virginia, stepping down in April 2025.