Lynn Pasquerella Named 18th President of Mount Holyoke College

Bio, high-res. photos, CV, live 4:15 pm Webcast at
http://www.mtholyoke.edu/newpresident

SOUTH HADLEY, Mass., Nov. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Lynn Pasquerella, an accomplished
scholar, medical ethicist, and global advocate for women's education and
empowerment, was named the 18th president of Mount Holyoke College at a
special meeting of the Board of Trustees on October 31. Pasquerella, the
unanimous recommendation of a 16-member search committee, will assume the
presidency on July 1, 2010.

The new president will be introduced to the Mount Holyoke community today at a
4:15 p.m. ceremony at Chapin Auditorium, initiated by the ringing of the
historic Mary Lyon bells.

For Pasquerella, currently provost at the University of Hartford, today's
announcement represents both the culmination of a career in higher education
that began more than 25 years ago and a return to her undergraduate
institution. A first-generation college student, she graduated from Mount
Holyoke in 1980 before earning her Ph.D. in Philosophy from Brown University.

"Lynn represents the ideal of a Mount Holyoke education," said Leslie Anne
Miller '73, chair of the Board of Trustees. "She embodies academic
excellence, leadership, and a deep-seated commitment to the liberal arts and
educational access. She is in the vanguard of a new generation of academic
leaders who are taking the helm at a time of great challenge and opportunity
for top liberal arts colleges. For Mount Holyoke, she is the perfect choice
to lead us as we expand our presence on a global stage."

Pasquerella's ascent through academic leadership has been a rapid one. In
2004, after 19 years as a professor of philosophy at the University of Rhode
Island, Pasquerella became URI's associate dean of the graduate school. In
2006, she was named vice provost for research and dean of the graduate school.
In 2008, she joined the University of Hartford as provost and chief academic
officer.

In addition to success as a scholar who has written extensively in the areas
of medical ethics, theoretical and applied ethics, metaphysics, public policy,
and the philosophy of law, as well as significant accomplishments as an
administrator, Pasquerella has been engaged throughout her career in efforts
dedicated to effecting positive change locally and globally.

Currently, she serves as project leader for a research team with the Africa
Center for Engineering Social Solutions, focusing on empowering women in an
AIDS-ravaged section of Kenya. She was also the principal investigator on a
$3.5 million National Science Foundation grant to promote the careers of women
in the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines and on a
$750,000 NSF-Northeast Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate
grant to encourage recruitment of underrepresented groups into the
professoriate in STEM fields.

"I am honored by this opportunity to return to Mount Holyoke as its 18th
President," said Pasquerella. "Mount Holyoke provided me with a distinctive
education--one that has resulted in my unyielding advocacy for liberal
learning. I look forward to joining the Mount Holyoke community in pursuit of
our common objective: promoting the freedom that lies at the heart of women's
education, here as elsewhere, tomorrow as well as today."

"Lynn Pasquerella is a powerful intellectual force, a dynamic and
compassionate leader, and a charismatic and wonderful human being," said
Walter Harrison, President of the University of Hartford. "I am as fond of
her as anyone I have ever worked with, and our whole community will be
devastated that she is leaving after only a year and a half as provost. But
we are all so very proud of her. In the vocabulary of her favorite sport (and
mine), Mount Holyoke has hit a home run!"

Pasquerella succeeds Joanne Creighton, who has led Mount Holyoke since 1996.
Under Creighton's leadership, applications increased by 50 percent and the
endowment nearly tripled prior to the recent downturn of the financial
markets. Creighton also presided over the recruitment of a new generation of
faculty and a campus renewal that included a new science center and residence
hall, and significant renovations to art, music, admission, and athletic
facilities.

A distinguished career

Born and raised in Connecticut, Pasquerella first found her way to Mount
Holyoke in 1978, transferring in as a junior from Quinebaug Valley Community
College. It was at Quinebaug where she was discovered by faculty members and
encouraged to move on to a rigorous and challenging four-year college. Still
working full-time throughout the academic year to support herself, she
graduated from Mount Holyoke magna cum laude and a member of Phi Beta Kappa in
1980. She went on to receive a full fellowship for her doctorate at Brown.

"The unwavering support of my peers and the faculty encouraged me to take up
the challenge to excel, and the educational opportunities afforded me at Mount
Holyoke gave me the academic and leadership skills to succeed," Pasquerella
said.

In 1998, Pasquerella was honored by Change magazine and the American
Association of Higher Education as one of the nation's "Young Leaders of the
Academy." Her leadership has extended beyond higher education into
surrounding communities and around the globe, including service on the board
of Paul Newman's Discovery Center in Woodstock, Connecticut. She also serves
on the Rhode Island Health Department's Institutional Review Board, the
advisory board for the Women's Adult Correctional Facility in Rhode Island,
and Day Kimball Hospital's ethics committee and as chair of its Institutional
Review Board.

Pasquerella has received funding through the U.S. Department of Energy to work
on ethical issues related to the Human Genome Project. She has also received
research grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National
Science Foundation (NSF), the Hewlett Foundation, the American Bar
Association, the Council of Graduate Schools, and the Office of Research
Integrity.

Pasquerella will also be professor of philosophy at Mount Holyoke, as she is
at the University of Hartford and was at the University of Rhode Island. She
and her husband John Kuchle, a biologist and photographer, will move to South
Hadley; the couple's twin 19-year-old sons are attending college: Spencer is
at nearby Hampshire College, and Pierce is at Mitchell College in New London,
Connecticut.

Mount Holyoke's Board of Trustees unanimously approved her selection on
Saturday, October 31, after an intensive seven-month search process that
reviewed a large number of accomplished candidates, including many nominated
by members of the Mount Holyoke community. The 16-member search team included
trustees, alumnae, and members of the faculty, student body and staff. It was
chaired by Jeanne E. Amster '77.

Founded in 1837, and the first of the Seven Sisters--the female equivalent of
the once predominantly male Ivy League--Mount Holyoke was the model upon which
many other women's colleges were patterned. Throughout its history, the
College has been known for academic rigor and barrier-breaking graduates. It
has a longstanding record as one of the most successful producers of women in
the sciences in all of U.S. higher education. In recent years, the school has
radically expanded its international reach, and now features the most
international student body of any leading liberal arts college.

Call: Kevin McCaffrey
413-538-2987, 413-364-7219, kmccaffr@mtholyoke.edu

SOURCE Mount Holyoke College

Kevin McCaffrey of Mount Holyoke College, +1-413-538-2987, +1-413-364-7219, or
kmccaffr@mtholyoke.edu