The board of trustees of Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, announced that Catharine Hill will step down as president of the highly rated liberal arts college on June 30, 2017. She will have served as president of the college for 11 years.
Vassar College was founded in 1861 as a college for women. Edna St. Vincent Millay, Jackie Kennedy, Meryl Streep, Jane Fonda, Katherine Graham, Mary McCarthy, Elizabeth Bishop, and Lisa Kudrow are among its most famous former students. The college transitioned to co-education in 1970. Today, women make up 58 percent of the student body.
In her announcement, President Hill said: “As I consider my presidency at this wonderful college, I think in terms of the individuals I have come to know – our amazing students, talented and hard-working faculty and staff, alumnae and alumni accomplished in every field, and dedicated board colleagues. I am so proud of what they have been able to do, and what we have achieved together. And I look forward to the ongoing work that will continue to ensure Vassar’s place as a leader in higher education.”
Before becoming the tenth president at Vassar, Dr. Hill was provost at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. She joined the economics faculty at Williams in 1985.
Dr. Hill is a summa cum laude graduate of Williams College. She earned a second bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree at the University of Oxford in England. President Hill holds a Ph.D. in economics from Yale University. She is the co-editor of Promoting and Sustaining Economic Reform in Zambia (Harvard University Press, 2004).