Stephen D. Schutt
Senior Consultant
Steve.Schutt@academicsearch.org
Mr. Stephen D. Schutt served as President of Lake Forest College from 2001 to 2022, and as Vice President & Chief of Staff at the University of Pennsylvania from 1995 to 2001. Before Penn, Mr. Schutt served as Chief of Staff to United States Senator Harris Wofford (PA), as Deputy Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry, and as a litigation attorney in a national law firm based in Philadelphia.
Under Mr. Schutt’s leadership, Lake Forest grew enrollment by 41% to 1700 students, 40% of whom were students of color. Lake Forest also raised more than $300 million in three capital campaigns, invested $200 million in key campus improvements, formed a strategic partnership with Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine & Science, developed a nationally recognized student career center, and launched popular new academic programs in health professions, data science, neuroscience, finance, entrepreneurship, African American and Latinx Studies.
At the University of Pennsylvania, Mr. Schutt wrote and coordinated the strategic plan Agenda for Excellence, co-directed a comprehensive West Philadelphia revitalization initiative that featured a university-assisted K-8 neighborhood public school, and supervised planning, budget, communications, and other central operations.
In recent years, Mr. Schutt has served as Chair of the Annapolis Group, Chair of the Associated Colleges of the Midwest, and on the boards of Earlham College, Northwestern University’s Medill School Justice Project, Lake Forest Graduate School of Management, and the Mellon Foundation National Institute of Technology & Liberal Education.
A graduate of Earlham College (B.A.), University of London (M.A.), and University of Pennsylvania (J.D.), he resides in Highland Park, IL with his wife and daughter.
