Elizabeth Kiss (born 1961) is an American philosopher and academic administrator, specialising in Moral philosophy, moral and political philosophy. Since 2018, she has been the Warden of Rhodes House, Oxford University, and CEO of the Rhodes Trust. She is responsible for administering the Rhodes Scholarship, providing pastoral support to existing Rhodes Scholars and coordinating the Rhodes Trust. She is the first woman to hold this role. Previously she served as president of Agnes Scott College.

Early life and education

Kiss's parents along with her two older siblings emigrated from Hungary to the United States in 1956 following the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, Hungarian Revolution. Kiss was born in New York City and gained her undergraduate degree in 1983 from Davidson College in North Carolina, where she graduated Omicron Delta Kappa. She was elected a Rhodes Scholar in 1983, studied at Balliol College, Oxford, Balliol College and received a D.Phil. from the University of Oxford in 1990. Speaking about her childhood in a 2018 interview for ''Times Higher Education'' she said, "Being the 'American kid' in a family of refugees and political prisoners (my father was imprisoned in Hungary by both the Nazi and communist regimes) and growing up bilingual in a multicultural neighbourhood gave me experience from an early age of straddling different worlds." In the same interview she claims it was her two older siblings' taste in 1960s music and political activism that sparked her interest in ethics, politics, and human rights. Kiss became involved with student activism during her time at Davidson College, setting up the college's Amnesty International chapter and becoming the first female Davidson student to win a Rhodes Scholarship.

Career

Much of Kiss's research has focused on political philosophy and moral education which she believes is essential to personal and professional development. From 1997 to 2006, Kiss was the founding director of the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. She served as the eighth President of Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia from 2006 to 2018. In 2015, she devised the SUMMIT curriculum at the college, which aims to provide students with a core curriculum where leadership development and global learning are the focuses. As college president, she changed the institution's demographic to include one-third African-American students. She presided over the college during its multi-year, aggressive legal battle to deny remedy to Amanda Hartley who had been falsely accused of assault by a current Agnes Scott student. Even though Hartley proved she was in Tennessee at the time, the college police had her extradited and arrested. She spent weeks in Dekalb County jail where she said she was beaten and subject to cavity searches. Hartley lost her scholarship and standing in her Masters program in Tennessee due to the false imprisonment and harm caused by Agnes Scott employees, namely the campus police, under the leadership of Kiss. The case caused some to question Agnes Scott's true committment to uplifing women, particularly under the leadership of Kiss

After repeated appeals and protestations by the college in a protracted fight all the way to the Georgia Supreme Court, the college finally settled with Amanda Hartley in 2020, but as noted by her attorney, Lloyd Bell, only after the college leadership changed: "There has been a change of leadership at Agnes Scott, so there’s a possibility that that might impact the decision," said Bell. "The value of the case and the harm Agnes Scott caused my client has not diminished." (Yahoo News, Law.com, April 15, 2019)

Unlike Kiss, New college president Leocadia “Lee” Zak has been lauded locally for supporting the young women Agnes Scott college proports to serve. In August 2018, Kiss began her tenure as Warden of Rhodes House at the University of Oxford, home of the Rhodes Scholarship, and CEO of the Rhodes Trust. She is the first woman to hold these positions.

Select honours and awards

* Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) District III Chief Executive Leadership Award, 2018. * Named one of the Eight Most Influential People in US Higher Education by the Chronicle of Higher Education, 2017. * The American Council on Education Award for Institutional Transformation (for Agnes Scott College), 2017. * Turknett Leadership Character Award for Higher Education, 2007.

References

External links

Biography
- Agnes Scott College *
Elizabeth Kiss ' 83 Named Eighth President of Agnes Scott College
' - Davidson College *
Duke's Elizabeth Kiss to Head to Agnes Scott
' - Duke University *
Elizabeth Kiss Elected Eighth President of Agnes Scott
' - collegenews.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Kiss, Elizabeth Heads of universities and colleges in the United States American Rhodes Scholars Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Davidson College alumni Duke University faculty Fellows of Balliol College, Oxford Agnes Scott College Randolph–Macon College faculty Princeton University faculty Deep Springs College faculty Harvard University staff 1961 births Living people Political philosophers 20th-century American philosophers American women philosophers American women political scientists American political scientists Women heads of universities and colleges 20th-century American women 21st-century American women