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List of presidents of Wellesley College

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The following list of people have served as president of Wellesley College, a private women's liberal arts college located in Wellesley, Massachusetts. The current president is Paula A. Johnson.[1] Over the past 140 years of Wellesley College's operation, there have been fourteen presidents.[2] All of the previous presidents have been women.

List of presidents of Wellesley College[1]
President Years served Reference
Ada Howard 1875-1881 [3][4]
Alice Freeman Palmer 1881-1887 [5]
Helen Shafer 1887-1894 [6]
Julia Irvine 1894-1899 [7]
Caroline Hazard 1899-1910 [7]
Ellen Fitz Pendleton 1911-1936 [8]
Mildred McAfee Horton 1936-1949 [1]
Margaret Clapp 1949-1966 [1]
Ruth Adams 1966-1972 [1]
Barbara W. Newell 1972-1980 [1]
Nannerl Overholser Keohane 1981-1993 [9][10]
Diana Chapman Walsh 1993-2007 [11]
H. Kim Bottomly 2007-2016 [12][13]
Paula A. Johnson 2016-current [14][15]

About the Presidents

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Paula A. Johnson, inaugurated 2016

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Paula A. Johnson is the fourteenth president of Wellesley and the first Black president of Wellesley College. Since July 2016, her efforts have gone into the college's mission to educate the world, create new opportunities, challenge assumptions, and embrace differences. As a cardiologist, researcher, and expert in public health and health policy, President Johnson has devoted her career to transforming the health and well-being of the communities. She was also the founding executive director of the Connors Center for Women’s Health and Gender Biology, chief of the Division of Women’s Health at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, and professor of epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Her research has focused on understanding the difference in how disease is expressed for different genders and its implications on health policy.[2]

H. Kim Bottomly, inaugurated 2007

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H. Kim Bottomly is the thirteenth president of Wellesley College, and she was the first scientist to be the president of the college. During her time at Wellesley, she restructured the college's finances after the 2008 recession, and the Madeleine Korbel Albright Institute for Global Affairs was created. Under her leadership, she began collaborative efforts with Olin College and Babson College. Other efforts she pushed for were to renovate and maintain the upkeep of the historic buildings on campus.

Diana Chapman Walsh '66, 1993-2007

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Diana Chapman Walsh was the 12th president of Wellesley and the fourth alumna to head the college. An English major at Wellesley, she went on to earn a master’s degree in Journalism and a Ph.D. in health policy from Boston University, where she subsequently served on the faculty. Named a Kellogg National Fellow in 1987, Walsh traveled throughout the United States and abroad studying workplace democracy and principles of leadership, as well as writing poetry. Immediately before returning to Wellesley in 1993, she was the Florence Sprague Norman and Laura Smart Norman Professor at the Harvard School of Public Health, where she chaired the Department of Health and Social Behavior.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f "Fourteen women have steered Wellesley's course over 140 years". Wellesley College. Retrieved May 10, 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Presidential History". Wellesley College. Retrieved 2022-04-07.
  3. ^ "Miss Ada L. Howard". New Hampshire Women: A Collection of Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Daughters and Residents of the Granite State ... New Hampshire Publishing Company. 1895. p. 29.
  4. ^ Nidiffer, Jana; Bashaw, Carolyn Terry (January 4, 2001). Women Administrators in Higher Education: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives. SUNY Press. pp. 38–39. ISBN 978-0-7914-4818-2.
  5. ^ "The Alice Freeman Palmer Memorial". The Wessley News. June 16, 1909.
  6. ^ "FUNFRAL OF MISS HELEN A. SHAFER.; Her Many Friends Attended the Services in Wellesley College Chapel". The New York Times. January 23, 1894. Retrieved May 10, 2018.
  7. ^ a b "Wellesley's New President: Miss Caroline Hazard Succeeds Mrs. Julia J. Irvine" (PDF). The New York Times. March 9, 1999. Retrieved May 10, 2018.
  8. ^ "Ellen Fitz Pendleton, 71 Noted Educator, Dead: President Emeritus of Wellesley College Received Many World-Wide Honors". Daily Boston Globe. Boston, Mass. July 27, 1936. p. 1.
  9. ^ Livezey, Emilie Tavel (1981). "Wellesley's new president; Nannerl Keohane has Made Her Life Count Double". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved May 10, 2018.
  10. ^ Pruden III, William H (November 11, 2013). "Nannerl Overholser Keohane (1940–)". The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture. Retrieved May 10, 2018.
  11. ^ "President Diana Chapman Walsh to Step Down in June 2007". Wellesley College Office for Public Affairs. April 28, 2006. Retrieved May 10, 2018.
  12. ^ Moore, Mary (April 17, 2015). "Wellesley College president stepping down". Boston Business Journal. Retrieved May 10, 2018.
  13. ^ Conton, Ruby (April 28, 2016). "President H. Kim Bottomly's Tenure Celebrated During 2016 Springfest". The Wellesley News. Retrieved May 10, 2018.
  14. ^ "Wellesley's New President Brings a Background of Firsts". The Chronicle of Higher Education. October 9, 2016. Retrieved May 10, 2018.
  15. ^ Werner-Winslow, Alexandra (July 10, 2016). "Michelle Williams and Paula Johnson Are Making Their Mark". Boston Magazine. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
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