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.
