In Memoriam: Jacqueline Grennan Wexler (1926-2012)

Jacqueline G. Wexler, the former president of what is now Webster University in St. Louis and the former president of Hunter College in New York City, has died in Orlando, Florida. She was 85 years old.

A native of Sterling, Illinois, Wexler graduated from what was then Webster College for women and then became a nun as a member of the Sister of Loretto order. After receiving a master’s degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1957, she joined the faculty at Webster. She became president of the college in 1965. During her tenure she transitioned the college to co-education and wrestled control of the institution from the Catholic Church to a secular board of trustees.

She then left the sisterhood and married Paul Wexler, a record company executive. During the 1970s, Wexler was president of Hunter College, part of the City University of New York System. From 1982 to 1990, she served as president of the National Conference of Christians and Jews.