Sarah Lawrence College announced Thursday that Cristle Collins Judd, currently a senior program officer at the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, has been named the college”™s president.
Judd will replace Karen R. Lawrence, who will step down in July. Judd will be the 11th president in the school’s 91-year history.
In a statement released by the school, Sarah Lawrence Board of Trustees Chair Mark P. Goodman said Judd was the ideal person to take over leadership of the school.
“She is a proven leader, a dedicated teacher, a distinguished scholar, and an astute observer of the American higher education landscape,” said Goodman, who also chaired the school’s presidential search committee. “Cristle”™s career has given her a broad network within and beyond the academy and a valuable, wide-aperture understanding of liberal arts colleges across the country and the opportunities and challenges they face today.”
Judd earned her bachelor of music and master of music in music performance and musicology from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University and her master of music and Ph.D in music theory from King’s College, University of London.
At the Mellon Foundation in Manhattan, she leads initiatives in support of liberal arts colleges, graduate education, arts on campus, digital humanities and advanced scholarship, according to the release from Sarah Lawrence. The foundation has a $6 billion endowment and makes grants in higher education, performing arts, museums and environmental conservation.
Before Judd worked at the Mellon Foundation, she served for nine years as dean for academic affairs and professor of music at Bowdoin College in Maine. She was also a professor of music at the University of Pennsylvania, where she served on the faculty for 13 years.
Sarah Lawrence College has about 1,500 total students.
