Smith College announced its 12th president on Thursday — Sarah Willie-LeBreton who is currently the provost and dean of faculty at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania.
Speaking from the Northampton, Massachusetts, campus, Willie-LeBreton cited the importance of the college’s mission: To educate its all-female student base to tackle the world’s toughest challenges.
"The seriousness of Smith’s mission cannot be overstated in a society’s whose highest institutions reveal a tragic ambivalence about the value and humanity of women," she said.
A sociologist who studies social inequality and race and ethnicity, Willie-LeBreton is known for her commitment to the liberal arts, and her work in equity and inclusion.
She is the author of “Acting Black: College, Identity and the Performance of Race,” and editor of and contributor to “Transforming the Academy: Faculty Perspectives on Diversity and Pedagogy.”
Willie-LeBreton will take over Smith's presidency July 2023.