Two Women College Presidents Receive Contract Extensions

Valerie Smith, president of Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, has received a contract extension through June 2027.

Dr. Smith assumed her presidency in 2015. Over the past decade, she has led the college through its largest-ever fundraising campaign, several diversity and inclusion initiatives, and a new sustainable energy plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2035.

Prior to her current role, Dr. Smith served as the Woodrow Wilson Professor of Literature, founding director of the Center for African American Studies, and dean of the college at Princeton University. She previously taught English and African American studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. As a a scholar of African American literature, she has authored several books, including Toni Morrison: Writing the Moral Imagination (Wiley-Blackwell, 2014) and Sistahs: Stories of African American Women’s Lives and of Finding Place in Christian Missions (New Harbor Press, 2020).

Dr. Smith is a graduate of Bates College in Maine and holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia.

Kathleen Harring, president of Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania, has received a contract extension through June 2028.

In June 2019, Dr. Harring was appointed interim president of Muhlenberg. She was officially named the college’s thirteenth president in June 2020. Some of her most notable accomplishments over the past five years include the establishment of a new graduate school, several new student support services, and new community partnerships. She also oversaw new infrastructure improvements and a successful fundraising campaign in honor of the college’s 175th anniversary.

Dr. Harring first came to Muhlenberg in 1984 as an assistant professor of psychology. Since then, she has served as chair of psychology department and co-founder of the Muhlenberg Center for Teaching and Learning. She was appointed as the college’s provost in 2017.

Dr. Harring is a graduate of Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where she majored in psychology. She holds a Ph.D. in social psychology with a minor in quantitative psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.