James L. Powell

James Lawrence Powell (born July 17, 1936) is an American geologist, writer, former college president and museum director. He chaired the geology department at Oberlin College later serving as its provost and president. Powell also served as president of Franklin & Marshall College as well as Reed College. Following his positions in higher education, Powell presided over the Franklin Institute and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles.

Powell served 12 years on the National Science Board and recently retired as executive director of Graduate Fellowships for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Diversity.

His book, Night Comes to the Cretaceous, explores the scientific debate regarding dinosaur extinction. In Four Revolutions in the Earth Sciences, Powell addresses dinosaur extinction in addition to three other scientific debates: deep time, continental drift and global warming.

Powell has posited that the scientific consensus on global warming nears universality and he actively counters climate change denialism in his research and other publications.

Powell earned a BA degree in 1958 from Berea College, a private liberal arts college located in Powell's home town of Berea, Kentucky. Powell then received a PhD in Geochemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1962.

Powell began his career at Oberlin College in 1962 where he held the position of chair of the geology department from 1965 to 1973. He became the associate dean of arts and science in 1973, then vice president and provost in 1975. After serving two years as a visiting administrator at Stanford University, Powell returned to Oberlin to serve as its acting president from 1981 to 1983.

Following a 20-year career at Oberlin, Powell served as president of Franklin and Marshall College from 1983 to 1988, then president of Reed College from 1988 to 1991. Powell left academia to preside over the Franklin Institute (1991–1994) followed by the National History Museum of Los Angeles (1994–2001). Since 2001, Powell has been serving as the executive director of the National Physical Science Consortium.

Powell served 12 years on the National Science Board first appointed by Ronald Reagan in 1986 and serving as its vice chair in 1990.