Richard Kneedler was appointed Interim President of Rockford College in June, 2006 and is President Emeritus of Franklin & Marshall College. Kneedler was President of F&M from 1988 to 2002. During his tenure as both vice president of development and then president, the College completed two capital campaigns, raising $200,000,000. The College’s endowment also increased more than four-fold to over $300,000,000 and some 60% of the College’s physical plant was built new or fully renovated. Program changes included quadrupling the proportion of students doing independent study to over 50% and increasing internships, study abroad, and other individual enrichment programs. A program of freshman seminars begun in 1989 increased to cover most entering freshmen. International and multicultural students grew to comprise over 20% of the student body. 

Kneedler was an Instructor in French in 1968 and Assistant Professor of French in 1969 at Franklin & Marshall. He also taught in the Temple University Graduate Education Program for Teachers in Harrisburg 1969-71. He was appointed in 1971 Assistant Dean of the College at Franklin & Marshall and subsequently held appointments as Assistant to the President, Secretary of the College, Administrative Vice President, Vice President for Administration, and Vice President for Development before becoming President in 1988.

Kneedler chaired the Pennsylvania Governor’s Commission on Training America’s Teachers in 2005-06. He has served on regional, state and national boards, including The Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Pennsylvania, The Pennsylvania Association of Colleges and Universities, The National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, the Council for Independent Colleges, the Centennial Conference, the Annapolis Group, the Central Pennsylvania Consortium, the Commonwealth Partnership, the Shared Services Consortium, the Kiski School, and the Pennsylvania School of Art and Design. He was a founder of the Annapolis Group, the Shared Services Consortium, the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania Independent College and University Research Council, and the Centennial Conference.

Kneedler, a member of Phi Beta Kappa, earned his A.B. in 1965 as a College Scholar specializing in French at Franklin & Marshall College. He earned an M.A. (1967) and a Ph. D. (1970) in French Language and Literature from the University of Pennsylvania and also a certificate in Higher Education Administration from the Institute for Educational Management, Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration (1975).  He was awarded honorary doctorates by Tohoku Gakuin University in Sendai, Japan (1963) and by Franklin & Marshall (2002).