Presidential Search Committee members announced

Dear members of the Mount Holyoke community,

The process to choose the twentieth president of Mount Holyoke is critical to the future of the College. In order to attract a leader whose expertise reflects the priorities and core values of Mount Holyoke, the Presidential Search Committee (PSC) seeks to ensure diverse perspectives across the committee, representing the full range of stakeholders, including students, staff, faculty, alums and Trustees. 

I am pleased to announce the PSC members below, who were identified by their peers and selected to serve on this committee. I want to thank all members of our community who were willing to step forward for this role, and recognize the commitment of the PSC members to dedicate the time and attention necessary to serve. 

The PSC will work with an external search firm (as yet not selected) to prepare a compelling position profile that reflects the special opportunity to lead Mount Holyoke and that supports the efforts to attract and engage a diverse candidate pool. Following careful evaluation of candidates, the PSC will then recommend the most qualified to the Board of Trustees. In accordance with our bylaws, the Board of Trustees will be responsible for selecting and hiring the president.   

The PSC will seek stakeholder engagement to inform its work. Over the next several months, the PSC will convene a series of listening sessions in various formats in collaboration with the chosen search firm. The objective is to gain full understanding of how the community views the role of the president and the key opportunities and challenges ahead for the College and its next leader. We will incorporate the insight gained from the community into the process and Committee deliberations, and will seek your formal nominations for president at the appropriate moment. 

While it is essential that some details of the search remain confidential to the PSC, the Committee chair and vice chair look forward to sharing pertinent information and milestone updates throughout the process. The dedicated presidential search page will be updated soon with more detail on the process and timeline, and all public materials will be posted there in the future.

On behalf of the Trustees and the PSC, I thank you in advance for your thoughtful engagement with the process and for your support of the individuals on the committee for their efforts to attract and secure strong future leadership for Mount Holyoke.

Sincerely,

Karena Strella ’90
Chair, Board of Trustees

Presidential Search Committee Members:

• Ashanta Evans Blackwell ’95, Trustee; vice president and deputy general counsel, Teach for America
• Jaime DeCaro, associate director of Student Involvement
• Adam Falk, incoming Trustee; president of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
• Lasya Priya Rao Jarugumilli ’23,  social thought and political economy major, physics minor; president, Student Government Association 
• Kavita Khory ’84, Ruth Lawson Professor of Politics; Carol Hoffmann Collins Director of the McCulloch Center for Global Initiatives
• Anne McKenny ’79 (vice chair), Trustee; retired engineering manager, General Motors Corporation
• Natasha Mohanty ’03, Trustee; engineering leadership, Stripe 
• Suparna Roychoudhury, associate professor of English; chair, Faculty Conference Committee
• Wendy Rua ’94, Teaching and Learning Initiatives program coordinator, co-chair, Staff Council
• Karena Strella ’90, Chair of the Board of Trustees; retired partner, Egon Zehnder International
• Mona Sutphen ’89 (chair), Trustee; partner and head of investment strategies, The Vistria Group
• Elizabeth Weatherman ’82, Trustee; special limited partner, Warburg Pincus
• André White, assistant professor of biological sciences
• Yihan Zhang ‘25, politics major; board member, International Students Organization Committee