William Jewell Selects Drew Van Horn as Interim President

Posted September 2, 2025

William Jewell College has named Dr. Drew Van Horn as its interim president.

Van Horn will take over the role following Susan Chambers’ decision to step back from the role and rejoin the school’s Board of Trustees. Chambers led William Jewell for the past year, according to the release.

With 10 years of experience as president of Brevard College in North Carolina and seven years at Young Harris College in Georgia, Van Horn brings his roots in liberal arts and humanities to the role. Under his leadership, both Brevard and Young Harris experienced higher student enrollment, developed new academic and pre-professional pathways, and expanded opportunities for internships and undergraduate research.

Furthermore, Van Horn also held roles as vice president of institutional advancement at Lenoir-Rhyne University and Iowa Wesleyan University, as well as director of the Independent College Fund of North Carolina.

He earned his B.A. from Elon University in North Carolina, M.Ed. from Campbell University in North Carolina and his Ph.D. in education from the University of South Carolina.

“He [Van Horn] has a breadth of experience in areas of heightened focus for Jewell including student outcomes, programmatic performance, athletics and the expansion of advancement operations,” William Jewell Board of Trustees chair, Bill Gautreaux, said in the release. “As we have established momentum on our Reimagine Jewell initiative raising the first $10 million of our $25 million goal while balancing our budget, his tenure will help shape our culture and build on Jewell’s long history of academic excellence and student success.”