The College of William & Mary on Tuesday named an English literature scholar and senior administrator of a prominent women’s college to become the first female president in the school’s 325-year history.
Katherine Rowe, provost and dean of faculty at Smith College, was the unanimous pick of the governing board of the public university in Williamsburg, Va. She will take office in July as William & Mary’s 28th president, succeeding the retiring Taylor Reveley.
“She is a passionate and articulate advocate for the liberal arts,” said Todd Stottlemyer, who is the rector, or leader, of the school’s Board of Visitors. “She’s a combination of a Renaissance scholar, a humanist, technologist, innovator and entrepreneur.”
Founded in 1693, William & Mary is the second-oldest institution of higher education in the nation after Harvard University and counts Thomas Jefferson among its alumni. It has about 8,600 students, mostly undergraduates, and is known for its distinctive blend of traditional liberal arts education with small class sizes in the setting of a research university that awards master’s, doctoral and law degrees.
When Rowe was interviewing for the job, Stottlemyer said, “She knew our history and our traditions cold.”
“The vision of William & Mary conveyed to me over the past months, by everyone I met in this community, is so compelling: a deep appreciation of history and tradition; a commitment to fostering inclusive communities of teaching, learning and research; and an understanding of the value of change and innovation to advance a liberal arts mission,” Rowe said in a statement. “These commitments are essential to a university’s continued excellence in the 21st century. I am resolved to further that vision as we work together in the coming months and years.”
Rowe, 55, is a scholar of Shakespeare, Milton, Renaissance drama and media history who has been the top academic officer at the women’s college in Massachusetts since 2014. With an interest in how digital tools can deepen understanding of the humanities, she co-founded a company called Luminary Digital Media, which promotes interactive reading applications to help students engage with Shakespearean texts.