Dr. Ronald A. Crutcher

Ronald A. Crutcher, a national leader in higher education, a distinguished classical musician, and an accomplished administrator, was the 10th President of the University of Richmond, serving the University from 2015-2021. He is also a professor of music.

Dr. Crutcher is President Emeritus of Wheaton College in Massachusetts. As president from 2004–14, he raised the institution’s profile; increased enrollment and diversity of the student body; created new interdisciplinary faculty positions and academic programs; and ensured the institution’s financial stability during a challenging economic period for all of higher education. Wheaton students consistently garnered prestigious academic honors including Truman, Marshall, Goldwater, Rhodes, and Fulbright Scholarships. Prior to Wheaton, Dr. Crutcher was Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs at Miami University of Ohio. 

A former member of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and several other symphonies, he currently performs in the U.S. and Europe as a member of The Klemperer Trio with Erika Klemperer (violin) and Gordon Back (piano). He serves on the board of the Richmond Symphony and has served on the boards of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Berklee College of Music. Earlier in his career he was President of Chamber Music America, director of the highly ranked Butler School of Music at the University of Texas at Austin, and dean of the Conservatory at the Cleveland Institute of Music. 

Dr. Crutcher was the first cellist to receive the doctor of musical arts degree from Yale, where he also earned his master’s degree. During his graduate study, he received a Fulbright Fellowship, a Ford Foundation Doctoral Fellowship, and a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Miami University, he has received honorary degrees from Wheaton College (Mass.), Colgate University, and Muhlenberg College.