M. Lee Pelton is President and Chief Executive Officer of The Boston Foundation.
Before joining The Boston Foundation, a philanthropic organization with over $1 billion in assets, Pelton was President of Emerson College from 2011 to May 2021.
Previously, Pelton was President of Willamette University from 1999 to 2011, Dean and Professor of English Literature at Dartmouth College from 1991 to 1998. Pelton was Dean of Students and later Dean of Colgate University from 1986 to 1991.
Pelton has served on numerous educational and cultural boards and committees. In 2020, Pelton was recognized by the Boston Chamber of Commerce as a 2020 Distinguished Bostonian and included in the Boston Business Journal’s 50 Most Powerful Leaders in Boston list.
Pelton holds undergraduate degrees in English and Psychology from Wichita State University and a PhD in English from Harvard University.
