College of William and Mary Names Its First Woman Leader in its 325-Year History

The board of visitors of the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, has chosen Katherine A. Rowe as the next president of the nation’s second-oldest higher education institution. When she takes office in July, Dr. Rowe will be the first woman president in the 325-year history of the College of William and Mary.

The College of William and Mary is a state-operated institution with more than 6,000 undergraduate students and more than 2,300 graduate students. Women make up 58 percent of the undergraduate student body.

Currently, Dr. Rowe is provost and dean of the faculty at Smith College, a private, high-ranking liberal arts college for women in Northampton, Massachusetts. She has held that position since 2014. Earlier, Dr. Rowe was a professor of English and director of the Katharine Houghton Hepburn Center for leadership and public engagement at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania.

Dr. Rowe has authored or co-authored three books, including her latest work New Wave Shakespeare on Screen (Polity Press, 2007).

A graduate of Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, Dr. Rowe holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in English and American literature from Harvard University.