New VP of Enrollment Named at Calvin College

Russell Bloem has been named vice president for enrollment at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI.

A 1975 graduate of the college, he comes to the position with a varied background in business.

While Bloem's career background is diverse and international, he began life in the stolidly Dutch ethnic enclave of Cutlerville, Mich. "It was a little more rural than now," he confessed.

Bloem graduated from Calvin in 1975, and his interest in medicinal chemistry—how medicines react in the human body—led him to graduate school at the University of Michigan. He earned a master’s in that field in 1977, then spent five years earning a master’s of business from U of M while working in pharmaceutical research at Warner-Lambert/ Parke-Davis. In 1983, Bloem moved to the business side of the drug business at Bristol-Myers (now Bristol-Myers Squibb.)

Over the next 10 years, under several titles and in a range of locales, he directed branding and marketing efforts for cancer, anti-cholesterol, anti-anxiety and antidepressant medications. In 1990, Bloem was tapped to start up the first HIV/AIDS unit in an American pharmaceutical company. "Our company had been very much a pioneer in drugs for cancer, and HIV disease we saw an analogous to that," he said.

A friend who worked at Calvin told Bloem about an opening in enrollment management, which oversees the departments of admissions and financial aid and pre-college programs. "As I read the job description for this position, it seemed to be a pretty good fit," he said. As Bloem navigated the interview process, it seemed like even more. "By the end of the process, I felt like I’d been called to this place at this point in life," he said, "and that I’d even been prepared by the experiences I’d had."

Bloem begins his new career as Calvin enters its second year of dipping enrollment. "For me, there’s a big learning curve around enrollment management,” he admitted, “but there’s a great, experienced team working with me."

To read the entire story by Myrna Anderson, communications and marketing at Calvin, visit: New VP of Enrollment.