Cristle Collins Judd to Be the Next President of Sarah Lawrence College

The board of trustees of Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York, has selected Cristle Collins Judd as the eleventh president of the educational institution. Dr. Judd will take office in July.

Sarah Lawrence College enrolls about 1,300 undergraduate students and 300 graduate students. Women make up 72 percent of the undergraduate student body.

Dr. Judd currently serves as a senior program officer for higher education and scholarship in the humanities at the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Earlier, Dr. Judd served for nine years as dean of academic affairs and professor of music at Bowdoin College in Maine.

“Higher education today faces daunting challenges including cost, value, outcomes, and diversity and inclusion, and Sarah Lawrence is not immune to these,” Dr. Judd said. “But as I have seen in my work at the Mellon Foundation, there are creative ways to address these issues. Sarah Lawrence’s history of experimentation, of nimbleness and flexibility, of innovation in both undergraduate and graduate education, coupled with its foundational commitment to the arts and liberal arts, positions the College to help lead the way. I am excited to join the Sarah Lawrence community as together we look to — and shape — the College’s future prominence and success.”

Dr. Judd holds bachelor’s and master’s degree from the Shepherd School of Music from Rice University in Houston, Texas. She earned a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in music theory from the University of London.

Below is a video of Dr. Judd speaking about her appointment as president of Sarah Lawrence College.