The Modern Language Association has announced that Paula M. Krebs will become the organization’s fourteenth executive director on August 1. Founded in 1883, the Modern Language Association works to strengthen the study and teaching of language and literature. The organization has more than 24,000 members in 100 countries worldwide.
Dr. Krebs will resign her positions as dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts in order to take on her new duties at the Modern Language Association. She has served as dean since 2012. Earlier, she spent more than 20 years on the faculty at Wheaton College in Massachusetts. She also served as special assistant to the president for external relations at Wheaton.
In accepting the appointment as executive director of the Modern Language Association, Dr. Krebs noted that “The MLA has been central to my professional life since I was a graduate student. I have long been involved in the work of the association as a volunteer and an elected representative, and I am honored and excited to be asked to lead this talented and dedicated staff.”
Dr. Krebs is a graduate of La Salle University in Philadelphia, where she majored in English. She holds a Ph.D. in English from Indiana University.