Career
He served as president of Whitman College in the 1970s and 80s and the Huntington Library in the 2000s. Skotheim assumed the role of interim president of Occidental College on January 1, 2008, replacing president Susan Westerberg Prager who unexpectedly announced her intention to resign in mid-November. During his tenure, Skotheim was one of the oldest college presidents in the nation.
On July 1, 2009, Skotheim stepped down and Jonathan Veitch, formerly dean of Eugene Language College, took the reinsurance