Carolyn Arthur “Biddy” Martin was named the 19th president of Amherst College, the highly rated liberal arts institution in western Massachusetts. Since 2008, she has been chancellor of the University of Wisconsin’s flagship campus in Madison. Previously, she served as professor and provost at Cornell University. In accepting the position, Dr. Martin stated, “Amherst represents everything I value in higher education.”
Dr. Martin is a native of Lynchburg, Virginia. She was valedictorian of her high school and was a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the College of William and Mary. She earned a master’s degree in German literature at Middlebury College and a Ph.D. in the same subject from the University of Wisconsin. She joined the Cornell University faculty in 1985 and served there for more than two decades.
She will assume her new duties in August.