J. Walter Sterling

J. Walter Sterling (A93) was appointed St. John's College president in October 2026, overseeing both campuses in a role unified for the first time in 40 years. He is the 26th president of the Annapolis campus and the eighth president of the Santa Fe campus. 

Prior to becoming St. John's College president, Sterling served for nine years as dean and two years as president of the Santa Fe campus, where he joined the teaching faculty in 2003. As dean, he defended St. John’s classical and radical model of liberal education while helping to pilot the college through a successful tuition reset, financial restructuring, and the $325 million Freeing Minds capital campaign.

Sterling chaired the effort to launch a new master’s degree in Middle Eastern Classics; the first cohort of students began their studies in fall 2025. He holds a special interest in growing and supporting the international student population at St. John’s and in expanding study abroad, internships, and co-curricular offerings.

Prior to joining St. John’s, Sterling taught at Loyola University Maryland, Temple University, and Gwynedd Mercy University. He has also worked outside academia, supporting mission-driven nonprofits such as Philadelphia’s Project HOME.

Sterling is a member of the board and visiting teaching faculty of the Rome Institute of Liberal Arts and serves on the Academic Advisory Council of the Jack Miller Center. His passion for languages and travel led him to study Italian in Florence and Hebrew in Jerusalem, in addition to teaching summer courses in Rome. In his free time, Sterling enjoys participating in triathlons and marathons and has completed six Pike’s Peak Marathons, four Ironman Triathlons, and the Boston Marathon.

Sterling is a native Annapolitan and, since 2003, a resident of Santa Fe, where he met wife Meghan Haid Sterling. Together, they have two sons, Will and Luke, born and raised in Santa Fe. As president, he divides him time between Maryland and New Mexico.

“I am extremely honored and humbled by this opportunity to serve our college community in this new way,” Sterling says. “As a graduate of St. John’s and a member of the faculty, and with all the other ways the college has shaped my family and my life, I know firsthand the benefits of this education, and I know that what makes St. John’s so special is unfortunately too rare today and more needed today than ever.”

more about President Sterling

Los Angeles Times - “The woes of ‘attention capitalism’ are new, but the cure is ancient”

Newsweek - “The Tools to Rebuild Our Civil Society Are on Our Book Shelves”

The Hill - “Tocqueville’s forgotten solution to America’s democratic crisis”

PBS’s The Open Mind - “How to Overcome a Liberal Arts Backlash”

Los Angeles Times - “How do we prepare college students for the AI world?”

Santa Fe New Mexican - “Santa Fe and St. John’s — rising together”

Press Release: J. Walter Sterling Appointed as Santa Fe Campus President

An Essay by J. Walter Sterling “Timeless and Timely: A Defense of the Great Books”

A Lecture by J. Walter Sterling “Freedom of the Intellect is a Sacred Thing: A Brief Exploration of Freedom, Liberal Education, and the St. John’s Program”