Dr. Mike Sosulski brings his visionary leadership to Lake Forest College presidency
The Lake Forest College Board of Trustees has appointed Dr. Mike Sosulski as the institution’s fifteenth president, Board Chair William Lowry ’84 announced on July 7, 2025. Dr. Sosulski will officially assume his new role on August 11, 2025, bringing with him an impressive track record of leadership in liberal arts education, innovation, and institutional growth.
A native of West Chicago and lifelong Cubs fan, Dr. Sosulski returns to his home state from Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland, where he has served as president since 2021. His tenure there was marked by transformational initiatives—ranging from large-scale capital investments in student housing and sustainability to a dramatic turnaround in admissions and a bold reimagining of campus life.
During his presidency at Washington College, Sosulski oversaw a $20 million renovation of first-year residence halls, launched a $5 million Innovation Hub to promote entrepreneurship, and successfully led the institution through its 10-year Middle States reaccreditation in 2024. He also added Men’s and Women’s Golf to the athletics program, and led a green energy transition across campus facilities.
Fundraising milestones followed, including $125 million in gifts ahead of the next campaign’s public phase. Among those, a transformative $15 million gift established the Warehime School of Global Business, Economics and Social Impact. To bolster enrollment, Sosulski recruited new vice presidents for Enrollment and Marketing, resulting in a 120 percent increase in applications over four years.
Prior to his presidency at Washington College, Sosulski served for five years as Provost and Professor of German at Wofford College in South Carolina. There, he helped redesign major academic spaces, including the $4 million transformation of the Sandor Teszler Library into an Academic Commons and the construction of a $9.5 million Green Globes-certified science facility.
Dr. Sosulski began his academic career at Kalamazoo College, where he held progressive roles including Associate Provost and Chair of German Studies. His scholarship focuses on national identity in German literature and culture, with additional interests in German hip-hop, theater, and second-language acquisition. He is the author of Theatre and Nation in Eighteenth-Century Germany (Ashgate, 2007), and has published widely in his field.
He holds a BS in German from Georgetown University and both an MA and PhD in Germanic Studies from the University of Chicago. He also studied saxophone performance at Berklee College of Music before beginning graduate work—a creative thread that continues to inform his leadership philosophy.
Dr. Sosulski is married to Dr. Cori Crane, Associate Professor of German at the University of Alabama. They are parents to two adult sons—Peter, who lives and works on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, and Nick, a Michigan State graduate based in Chicago.
Dr. Sosulski will continue to build on the mission of Lake Forest College to provide a transformative liberal arts education and expand its national presence.