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Jan. 16, 2012 – Brian Dalton has been named vice president for enrollment and communications at Allegheny College.

Dalton comes to Allegheny with almost 25 years of experience in higher education and a national reputation for his work in marketing, recruitment and retention. For the last three years he has been on the senior staff at Mercer University in Macon, Ga., first as senior vice president for enrollment management and most recently as senior vice president for strategic planning.

“We are delighted that Brian will be joining an already strong senior leadership team,” said Allegheny president James H. Mullen Jr. “Brian is known not only for his strategic thinking but for finding new ways to enhance the student experience at the colleges and universities where he’s served. We were particularly impressed by his emphasis on fulfilling the promises that colleges make to their students to ensure that their educations serve them for a lifetime. He is a great fit for Allegheny.”

Dalton was recently honored by the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers as the sole recipient at an American college or university of an award for outstanding leadership in strategic enrollment management.

“I’ve known of Allegheny College — and the outstanding experience it provides to highly talented students — seemingly my entire life,” said Dalton, who is a native of Erie, Pa. “The opportunity to work with a visionary like President Mullen, his talented executive team, an extraordinary faculty and a committed staff is both humbling and motivating at the same time.”

As senior vice president for strategic planning at Mercer University, Dalton was responsible for the development, maintenance, evaluation and advancement of the university’s 10-year plan. During his three years as the university’s senior vice president for enrollment management, Mercer enrolled its largest freshman classes in a decade and its largest ever incoming class of international students.

Dalton served for 10 years, from 1998 to 2008, as vice president for enrollment management and associate academic dean for program development at the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, Minn. From 1993 to 1998 he worked at the University of the Incarnate Word/Incarnate Word College in San Antonio, Texas, most recently as dean of enrollment management. Before that Dalton served as associate director of admissions at Gannon University in Erie.

He holds a B.A. in political science and a master of public administration from Gannon University. He earned a Ph.D. in education administration from the University of Texas at Austin.

Dalton’s wife, Diana, is also an Erie native. They have three children: Abby, 19; Shawn, 17; and Ian, 14.