Scott McVay was Chautauqua Institution's 16th president (2001-2003). He is a graduate of Phillips Exeter Academy and Princeton University with a degree in English Literature. He worked for 11 years at Princeton University as Recording Secretary, and then Assistant to the President, Robert F. Goheen. He is Founding Executive Director of both the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation and the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, where he led efforts in strategic grant-making in education (K-12), the arts, the welfare of animals, and critical issues.

McVay's leadership and vision have been recognized at national and international levels by organizations that reflect the values and interests of Chautauqua and the best in our society. He has served on the boards of the World Wildlife Fund, the Smithsonian Institution and the
W. Alton Jones Foundation, among others. He currently serves on a variety of boards including the World Wildlife National Council, Earth Policy Institute, New Jersey Network for public television and radio, Bat Conservation International, Princeton Environmental Institute, and Storm King Art Center.

He has traveled widely on behalf of science, conservation, Chinese language instruction, women's issues, and the well-being of animals. McVay has published papers on whales in Scientific American, Science, Natural History, and American Scientist and written chapters for books on biophilia, the humane treatment of all life, and philanthropy.

McVay's honors include receipt of the Albert Schweitzer Award from the Animal Welfare Institute, Princeton Class of 1955 award, the Joseph Wood Krutch medal from the Humane Society of the United States, the Lyndon Baines Johnson Award from the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars, the New Jersey Council for the Humanities Citizen of the Year 1998, and an honorary doctorate from Middlebury College. His wife, Hella, his two daughters Catherine and Cynthia, and their children, Philip, Tess, and Matthew are the center of his life.