President Michael K. Hooker, 1982–1986

Bennington’s eighth president, Michael Hooker, received an undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. He served as dean of undergraduate and graduate studies at Johns Hopkins University, and taught philosophy at Harvard University. While at Bennington, Hooker oversaw a further refinement and integration of the winter internship term, which had been a central part of a Bennington education since its founding. After leaving Bennington, he went on to serve as president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and the University of Massachusetts system, then as Chancellor of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. In 1984, he was featured in Esquire’s story on the “Best of the New Generation.” He wrote articles on applied ethics and chaired a biotechnology advisory panel for the U.S. Congress Office of Technology Assessment in addition to developing an Internet-based academic program at Chapel Hill.