Meredith Woo Selected as the Thirteenth President of Sweet Briar College

The board of trustees of Sweet Briar College in Virginia, has selected Meredith Woo as the 13th president of the liberal arts college for women. She will take office in May upon the retirement of Phillip C. Stone, the current president.

In March 2015, Sweet Briar College announced that it was closing (See WIAReport post.) But a fundraising campaign rescued the women’s college and a new leadership team has been seeking to boost enrollment and strengthen the college’s financial base.

Dr. Woo is the director of the Higher Education Support Program for the Open Society Foundations in London. From 2008 to 2014, Dr. Woo was the Buckner W. Clay Dean of the College and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Virginia. Earlier, she was a professor of political science and associate dean for social sciences at the University of Michigan.

A native of Seoul, South Korea, Dr. Woo is a graduate of Bowdoin College in Maine. She holds a master’s degree in international affairs and a Ph.D. in political science from Columbia University.

Below is a video of Dr. Woo talking about her appointment as the 13th president of Sweet Briar College.