By Jeremy Richter (A28) | March 4, 2026

St. John’s College installed its new Santa Fe president, J. Walter Sterling (A93), in a festive celebration on Friday, February 27, 2026. Sterling is the eighth Santa Fe president in the campus’s 60-year history. A St. John’s alumnus who studied on both campuses, a longtime member of the teaching faculty, and a former dean of the Santa Fe campus, Sterling assumed the presidency in July 2024.

“In my life, when it mattered most, I’ve been lifted up by the love and support of family and friends, and by extraordinary communities I’ve had the privilege of being part of for a season of life—where I have worked, studied, or practiced my faith,” Sterling acknowledged in an inaugural address. “To stand here now, entrusted with the presidency of St. John’s College Santa Fe, is a profound honor and deeply humbling.”

“Many of you hear me say frequently that this education is needed now more than ever. What do I mean?” Sterling continued. “The simple yet profound practice at the heart of this education is a small group sitting around a table—real faces, real voices—engaged in sustained dialogue and shared inquiry across disagreement, with a tangible, unhackable book on the table that rewards and deepens attention rather than fragmenting it. These practices cultivate what is called deep literacy and equip students for the hard pluralism our civic life requires. Today, this looks less like preservation of an antique education and more like an urgently needed remedy—an antidote to the greatest risks of our technological and political moment.”

We are, of course, at a time of intense pressure for higher education—economic, demographic, political, technological. We face those challenges at St. John’s. They are generic. But our strengths are rare and exceptional, and they will carry us forward.”

The inauguration ceremony included musical performances and remarks from special guests including Santa Fe Mayor Michael Garcia, the St. John’s College Chorus, Annapolis President Susan Paalman, Santa Fe Dean Sarah Davis, Board of Visitors and Governors Trustee and Governance Chair Martha Acosta (A92), Director of Personal and Professional Development Piér Quintana, and senior Jolyon “Joly” Lo (SF26).

“I cannot think of anyone who has more passion for this unique program of instruction, or greater institutional knowledge, or longer first-hand lived experience—literally from his birth until today—which enables him to articulate the value of this education better than anyone,” Acosta remarked in her address, which opened the ceremony.

Board of Visitors and Governors Chair Warren J. Spector (A81) formally installed Sterling as president, presenting him with the insignia of the presidency. This distinctive insignia features a chain made of books and a medallion of the college’s seal. In his remarks, Spector reflected, “Walter loves the great books, the conversation, the community and camaraderie created by this college and what we do here together. He understands clearly that we have something profound to offer those who are looking for a deeper life, for real connection, for openness to what we don’t understand, for a ray of hope at a time when our country so badly needs it.”

Nearly 300 attendees, including members of the Santa Fe community, government representatives, and alumni, attended the event. The ceremony was livestreamed and is available for viewing, along with a photo gallery of the event, at sjc.edu/inauguration.

The inauguration weekend also marked the reopening of the newly renovated Pritzker Student Center, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. A ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday, February 26, celebrated the completion of the renovation, which preserves the Territorial Revival vision of architect John Gaw Meem—who donated the land on which the college sits—while restoring the interior works of renowned modernist designer Alexander Girard. The project was made possible by the $75 million Pritzker Challenge, catalyzed by a $25 million two-for-one matching gift from Karen Pritzker, the parent of a St. John’s graduate, and the Jay Pritzker Foundation. The expanded coffee shop and bookstore, and the restored art gallery on the second floor, were open to visitors throughout the weekend. 

“I have served on the Campus Planning Committee for three years, and I have had the opportunity to think a lot about spaces—physical spaces—and what they mean for a learning community like ours,” Santa Fe tutor Paola Villa remarked in a dedication speech at the Pritzker Student Center’s opening ceremony. “In a world where objects are increasingly losing weight, and where thoughts and emotions are orphans of places where to anchor themselves, the act of giving new life to a building becomes revolutionary and deeply meaningful. These walls will house our memories; these doors will give us pause and provide infinite opportunities for materializing the thinking we do here at St. John’s in acts of kindness, welcome, and respect.”

The celebratory weekend continued later Friday evening with Shilo Brooks (A06), President and CEO of the George W. Bush Presidential Center and host of the podcast “Old School,” delivering a keynote conversation on liberal education, democracy, and his experience reading and teaching Great Books. Brooks’ presentation kicked off a series of three public lectures and panels held from Friday through Sunday as part of the college’s new Buchanan Forum, named in honor of Program co-founder Scott Buchanan and made possible by a generous $2 million gift from friends of the college, David and Christine Bernick. Supporting five years of programming, the Forum will expand the reach of the college’s founding vision—worldly engagement grounded in liberal education—through lectures, conferences, visiting faculty, institutional partnerships, and sustained conversation with leading thinkers.

On Saturday, “The Life of the Mind at Work in the World” alumni panel, moderated by Santa Fe tutors Obed Lira (SF10) and Sarah Stickney (A04), featured leading voices from literature, journalism, law, public ethics, and the arts: Shilo Brooks (A06), Sorakamol Annette Prapasiri (SF04), Amy Loyd (SF98), Jane McManus (A93), Salvatore Scibona (SF97), and Carter Snead (A96). On Sunday, sociologist Musa al-Gharbi, author of We Have Never Been Woke: The Cultural Contradictions of a New Elite (Princeton University Press, 2024) and a columnist for The Guardian, delivered a public lecture. The St. John’s College Alumni Association also held its annual awards reception for the first time in Santa Fe on Sunday morning, honoring distinguished alumni from both campuses whose work reflects the enduring value of a St. John’s education. Awardees included NPR’s chief international editor, a leading environmental lawyer, and the founder of South Korea’s Great Books Center.

ABOUT J. WALTER STERLING

J. Walter Sterling became president of St. John’s College in Santa Fe in July 2024 and was appointed interim college president in June 2025. Prior to becoming president, Sterling served for nine years as dean 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 the $325 million Freeing Minds capital campaign and through the pandemic disruption, for which he received the St. John’s College Alumni Association Award of Merit in 2023. Sterling chaired the effort to launch a new master’s degree in Middle Eastern Classics. He holds a special interest in growing and supporting the international student population at St. John’s and in expanding study abroad, internships, and visual arts offerings. Sterling holds a BA from St. John’s College, an MA in Philosophy from Emory University, and an MBA from the University of Notre Dame.