Sian Leah Beilock Named the Eighth President of Barnard College in New York City

Barnard College, the highly selective liberal arts educational institution in New York City, has chosen Sian Leah Beilock as its eighth president. Dr. Beilock will take office on July 1.

In accepting the post, Dr. Beilock said, “I am thrilled at the prospect of leading a college focused on ensuring women have the tools to succeed in any path they choose. Barnard’s unique status as a leading liberal arts college associated with a major research university and its unparalleled urban setting provide important opportunities for supporting high-powered young women to reach their potential and for emphasizing the benefits of a diversity of viewpoints in leadership roles. And there could be no more timely moment to highlight the importance to society of women’s intellectual leadership.”

Dr. Beilock has been serving as executive vice provost at the University of Chicago. She also was the Stella W. Rowley Professor in the department of psychology. Professor Beilock joined the faculty at the University of Chicago in 2005. Earlier she taught at Miami University.

Professor Beilock is the author of Choke: What the Secrets of the Brain Reveal About Getting It Right When You Have To (Free Press, 2010) and How the Body Knows its Mind: The Surprising Power of the Physical Environment to Influence How You Think and Feel (Atria Books, 2015).

Dr. Beilock is a graduate of the University of California, San Diego, where she majored in cognitive science. She holds a Ph.D. in kinesiology and psychology from Michigan State University.