Dr. Clifton Potter, professor of history at Lynchburg College, has been named College marshal, a title conferred on the faculty member with the longest service on campus. A 1962 graduate of the College, Dr. Potter joined the faculty in 1965. He replaces Dr. Tom Tiller, class of 1956 and professor of counselor education, who recently retired.
As marshal, Dr. Potter will lead all academic processions and will carry the College mace, signifying that a ceremonial activity is an official College function and that the faculty member carrying it is officially responsible for the event. Dr. Potter proposed the original design for the mace, which is carved from a ceiling beam of yellow pine from Westover Hall, the College’s original building. Sculptor/engraver Richard G. Pumphrey, a 1974 LC graduate and professor of art, completed the final design and execution.
A magna cum laude graduate of Lynchburg College, Dr. Potter earned his M. A. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Virginia and pursued post-graduate study at Oxford University, England, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He was named a Philip Francis DuPont Fellow and V. M. Davidge Fellow at the University of Virginia, a Fulbright Fellow at Oxford University, and a National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Fellow at the University of North Carolina and Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
During his tenure at Lynchburg College, Dr. Potter has served as chair of the Division of Social Sciences and the Department of History. He was named the John Mills Turner Distinguished Professor in the Humanities in 2002. He has been honored by numerous faculty awards including the Shirley E. Rosser Award for Excellence in Teaching, the Elsie Ervin Bock Award for Excellence in Citizenship, and the Academic Advising Award. He is also a recipient of the T. Gibson Hobbs Award from the LC Alumni Association.
In addition to his scholarly books and publications, Dr. Potter and his wife Dorothy-Bundy Turner Potter have co-authored four books on Lynchburg, including Lynchburg … the most interesting spot and Lynchburg, a City Set on Seven Hills, and Lynchburg 1757-2007, as well as two plays about Lynchburg College, Journey Through the Years and Another Journey Through the Years, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the College's founding.