The College of Santa Fe's board has named longtime arts educator and administrator John Gordon as the school's president.

Gordon, currently interim executive director of the Center for Contemporary Arts, will take over June 1 from interim president Larry Hinz.

"I have thought for some time that the College of Santa Fe — ever since it decided to focus on creative arts — that it had one of the most exciting opportunities in the country to start fresh and make a difference in the arts," Gordon said Monday.

Gordon for more than three decades has taught at art schools in California, New York and Kansas City. He most recently served as provost at Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles. In the early 1990s, Gordon was dean of arts and cultural studies at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe.

Gordon has spent time in and out of Santa Fe since the 1970s and commuted between here and Los Angeles while he was teaching at the University of Southern California in the '80s.

"I loved Santa Fe. I just loved being here and being part of the community here," Gordon said, "but I had a tenured teaching job at USC that would be hard to replicate here. And I was wanting the best of both worlds."

He also has served as director of the School of Art, Design and Art History at San Diego State University and was a faculty member and senior administrator at the Pratt Institution in New York City.

In 2009 Laureate International Universities took over the financially-troubled College of Santa Fe, which was founded 151 years ago by the Christian Brothers. The former nonprofit liberal arts college became a for-profit institution focused on creative arts when it became part of Laureate's network of universities.

The announcement of Gordon's appointment said Hinz, the interim president, will join the CSF board and will work as Laureate's senior liaison.

Gordon said he is excited about his new position and hopes to boost programs at the college.

"There is a core of really outstanding creative professionals already there and they have a fabulous campus with nothing but potential," Gordon said. "And, more importantly, because they recently had a near-death experience they really are somewhat of a clean slate."

Gordon's interest in the arts began while he was a student at Antioch College in Ohio, known for its cooperative work-study program. One of his first co-op jobs was in New York, where he was fascinated by the thriving arts scene of the 1970s.

"I was immersed in the arts and I just loved it," he said. "I wanted to be part of that energy and part of that excitement, so I went back to campus and started becoming an arts major."

He is still an active sculptor and believes his experience in both the creative and administrative sides of the art world are what makes him a good fit for CSF.

"While not the most productive sculptor on the planet, I am a practicing artist and I think that was important both to Laureate and faculty at The College of Santa Fe," Gordon said. "I also have over 30 years experience at some of the country's best established art schools. I know a lot about how different institutions do things and I can bring that do the table at The College of Santa Fe. I think that will be helpful."

The amount that Gordon will be paid was not disclosed Monday. He referred questions to Debra Epstein, Laureate's media contact, who said she didn't have that information.

Contact Veronica Cruz at 986-3042 or vcruz@sfnewmexican.com.