Sweet Briar College President to Lead the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh

Jo Ellen Parker, president of Sweet Briar College in Virginia, has announced that she is stepping down in order to accept the position of president of the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh. The Carnegie Museums include the Carnegie Museum of Art, the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, the Carnegie Science Center, and The Andy Warhol Museum. The museums reach more than 1.28 million people annually through exhibitions, educational programs, outreach activities, and special events.

Dr. Parker was named the 10th president of Sweet Briar College in 2009. The liberal arts college for women enrolls about 700 students. Before becoming president of Sweet Briar College, Dr. Parker was executive director of the National Institute for Technology in Liberal Education and was president of the Great Lakes Colleges Association. Earlier, she served on the faculty at Bryn Mawr College and Swarthmore College, both in suburban Philadelphia.

President Parker is a graduate of Bryn Mawr College, where she majored in English. She holds a master’s degree from the University of Kansas and a Ph.D. in English literature from the University of Pennsylvania.