Shantay Bolton Named President of Columbia College Chicago

Shantay Bolton has been appointed president and chief executive officer of Columbia College Chicago. Upon assuming her role on July 1, she will become the first woman of color to lead the institution.

Columbia College Chicago is a private arts college that enrolls about 6,300 undergraduate and 200 graduate students. Women represent about 62 percent of the undergraduate population.

Dr. Bolton comes to her new role from the Georgia Institute of Technology, where she is executive vice president of administration and finance and chief business officer. In this role, she oversees the institution’s $3.1 billion enterprise and collaborates with government and private sector organizations. She also teaches as an adjunct professor of practice in the Scheller College of Business.

Prior to her current role, Dr. Bolton was the executive vice chancellor for administration and chief administrative officer at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Earlier, she was vice president and deputy chief operating officer at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. While there, she served as founding director of the Tulane Leadership Institute. She is active in several professional organizations, including service as a board member for the American Association of Blacks in Higher Education.

“Columbia has been an educational and cultural anchor in Chicago for 135 years, and it is an honor to join Columbia’s expert community of faculty, staff and the talented young creatives who call Columbia home,” said Dr. Bolton. “I plan to build on Columbia’s unique creative culture and strengthen connections to industry and the civic community at a time when creativity is widely viewed by employers as one of the most sought-after skills.”

Dr. Bolton earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology and master’s degree in counseling psychology from Alabama A&M University. She holds an MBA from Florida International University and a Ph.D. in organizational psychology from Walden University.