MacLean Gander has been the Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the College at Landmark College since 1997. In addition to being the college’s chief academic officer, he has also overseen student life (1999-2005) and Landmark’s institute for research and training in an earlier stage of its development (1998 – 2001). During his time at Landmark, he has led developments in a number of areas, including the creation of the Landmark College approach to writing instruction, the development of a First-Year Experience program focused on issues of transition, an integrated model of collaboration between student affairs and academic affairs, and the integration of assistive technology across the college curriculum.
Mr. Gander joined Landmark in 1987, two years after it was founded, and has served as English Department Chair and as Associate Director of Evaluation and Planning. Before that, he worked as a researcher, writer, and reporter for Newsweek International in New York. He holds an undergraduate degree in English from Harvard College, and a Masters in Creative Writing from Boston University, where he was the Hoyt Fellow in Creative Writing. He is an Ed.D. candidate with the Fielding Graduate University, where his dissertation research has focused on the history of learning disabilities in the United States and the emergence of best practices at the postsecondary level. He lives in Brattleboro, VT, with his wife Lynne Shea, professor of English at Landmark College, and their two daughters, Bridget and Michaela.