As this issue of the Ithaca College News was going to press, the Ithaca College Board of Trustees announced the selection of Margaret Ryan Williams as the seventh -- and first woman -- president in the institution's 105-year history. Williams, who is currently the president of Lyndon State College in Vermont, will begin her duties in Ithaca this summer. She succeeds James J. Whalen, who will be departing after 22 years as Ithaca's president.
"We are delighted that Peggy, as she wishes to be known, has accepted the board's offer, and we look forward to working with her on behalf of Ithaca College in the coming years," said board of trustees chairman Herman E. Muller Jr. "We are confident that she will provide the leadership necessary to continue the tradition of excellence already established at the College, and to further enhance Ithaca's reputation among the top tier of comprehensive colleges in the United States."
Since 1989 Williams has been president of Lyndon State, a public institution of 1,200 students in Lyndonville, Vermont. Her background in higher education administration also includes service as associate academic dean (1988-89) and chair of the Business and Economics Department (1985-88) at Trinity College in Burlington; director of educational and personnel services (1982-85) for the Vermont State Colleges system; and regional director (1976-82) at the Community College of Vermont in Montpelier.
In the classroom, Williams was an associate professor at Trinity College from 1985 to 1989. She had previously taught at Johnson State College and the Community College of Vermont, and had a one-year appointment as a teaching fellow at Harvard University.Williams earned her bachelor of arts degree in psychology from St. Michael's College of the University of Toronto (1968), master of education degree with a concentration in higher education administration and planning from the University of Vermont (1976), and doctor of education degree in administration, planning, and social policy from Harvard (1983).