Following President Fred Young’s retirement in 1998, the board of trustees began their search for Elon’s next president. The hiring committee reviewed 115 applications before electing Leo M. Lambert as Elon’s eighth president. Leo M. Lambert graduated from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Geneseo and completed his MA at the University of Vermont. Leo’s wife, Laurie, was his high school sweet heart and they got married while Lambert was studying at UVM. Following graduation, Lambert served as the assistant director, and later director, of the Living/Learning Center at UVM. Lambert later received his MBA from Syracuse University and worked there for twelve subsequent years before moving to University of Wisconsin – La Crosse as a provost and vice chancellor. At Syracuse, Leo served as the associate dean of the graduate school, in which he developed a teaching-assistant program as well as a future professoriate program to prepare students for their careers in academics. In 1998, Change Magazine named Lambert one of the forty “Young Leaders of the Academy”.
In November of 1997, the board of trustees launched the Campaign of the Elon Vision. This forty-million dollar campaign that would enable Elon University to enter a stage of unprecedented growth. Lambert assumed office on January 1, 1999, but was not officially inaugurated until September 15, 1999. Elon’s organizational structure drastically changed within the first year of the Lambert administration to reflect the school’s increase in size and complexity thanks to the Campaign of the Elon Vision. Lambert played a crucial role in transforming Elon College into the Elon University it is renowned as today.
In May of 1999, Lambert announced the dedication of the new Carol Grotnes Belk Library, a significant step in the renovations of the facilities on campus. During the campaign, Elon created a new athletics identity by reclassifying as a Division 1 in the NCAA and changing the mascot from the Fighting Christians to the Phoenix. However, that was not the only name change that Elon experienced under President Lambert, Elon College became Elon University following a June 2000 trustee meeting. With the Division 1 reclassification, Elon administrators also decided that it was time to build a new athletics stadium to replace the Burlington Memorial Stadium that games were previously played at. Overall, President Lambert transformed Elon into a respected, reputable university during his tenure.
