School Administrators Women

The Cypress College Foundation has elected its first female president. Mary Bouas of Anaheim has been a member of the board since 1989. She is a longtime member of the Anaheim Assistance League and is a former Anaheim planning commissioner. Other new officers also have been elected, including Walt Bowman of Cypress, vice president; Darin Drabing of Sierra Madre, secretary; and David Culberson of Irvine, treasurer.

Shirley M. Tilghman, a pioneer in the efforts to map the human genome, was chosen Saturday to be Princeton University's first female president. Tilghman, an outspoken feminist and renowned molecular biologist, will succeed Harold T. Shapiro, who will retire next month after 13 years as university president, according to a Princeton news release. "She epitomizes the academic values of our university," said Robert H. Rawson Jr., chairman of the trustees' executive committee.

The president of Wellesley College was named Friday as the first woman president of Duke University, it was announced. Nannerl Overholser Keohane, 52, will be Duke's eighth president, succeeding Keith Brodie on July 1. Brodie is retiring.

Ruth Simmons, a sharecropper's daughter who went on to earn a doctorate in romance languages, was named president of Brown University on Thursday, becoming the first black to lead an Ivy League school. Simmons, the 55-year-old president of Smith College, succeeds Gordon Gee, who resigned from Brown in February to become chancellor of Vanderbilt University. Simmons grew up poor in Texas, the youngest of 12 children.

Lynne Stedman, dean of counseling at Rancho Santiago College, has been chosen to participate in the Leaders program, a yearlong international leadership enhancement plan for female administrators. Leaders is co-sponsored by the League for Innovation in Community Colleges and by the American Assn. of Women in Community and Junior Colleges.

Women, having long outnumbered men as college students, are increasingly beginning to break into the once male-dominated ranks of top executives at the nation's institutions of higher education, two new national reports have found. The share of women leading U.S. campuses has more than tripled over the past two decades, growing from 5% to 16%, according to a report by the American Council on Education.

Shirley M. Tilghman, a pioneer in the efforts to map the human genome, was chosen Saturday to be Princeton University's first female president. Tilghman, an outspoken feminist and renowned molecular biologist, will succeed Harold T. Shapiro, who will retire next month after 13 years as university president, according to a Princeton news release. "She epitomizes the academic values of our university," said Robert H. Rawson Jr., chairman of the trustees' executive committee.

The Long Beach City College Board of Trustees on Tuesday named the first woman president in the college's 61-year history. "She has the attributes we're looking for," board President C. Thomas Dean said in naming Beverly L. O'Neil to the post, effective July 1. "She has community stability, experience, and she's respected by people on and off campus." "I'm really honored," O'Neil, 57, said. "I think we have an outstanding institution with all the ingredients to succeed."

For the first time in its 112-year history, Whittier College on Thursday named a woman to the position of college president. Katherine Haley Will, currently provost and a professor of English at Kenyon College in Ohio, was selected by the Whittier College Board of Trustees to be the 13th president of the school, which has about 1,500 students. She will replace James L. Ash Jr. starting in July.

Stevie Connelly took a quick glance into the empty principal's office at Notre Dame High School, smiled to herself and then walked down the hall to her much smaller vice principal's cubicle. To the casual observer, Connelly merely seemed to be looking for Principal David Doyle. But she was actually surveying what will become her office in September when she takes over as the first woman principal in the 50-year history of the Roman Catholic college preparatory school.

The Cypress College Foundation has elected its first female president. Mary Bouas of Anaheim has been a member of the board since 1989. She is a longtime member of the Anaheim Assistance League and is a former Anaheim planning commissioner. Other new officers also have been elected, including Walt Bowman of Cypress, vice president; Darin Drabing of Sierra Madre, secretary; and David Culberson of Irvine, treasurer.

For the first time in its 112-year history, Whittier College on Thursday named a woman to the position of college president. Katherine Haley Will, currently provost and a professor of English at Kenyon College in Ohio, was selected by the Whittier College Board of Trustees to be the 13th president of the school, which has about 1,500 students. She will replace James L. Ash Jr. starting in July.

Casting herself as a peacemaker on the UC Board of Regents, Meredith J. Khachigian has been elevated by her colleagues to chairwoman of the sometimes fractious board that oversees California's elite public universities. "I don't have much hope it will be a smooth ride," said Khachigian, a public affairs consultant in San Clemente. "But at the same time, I look forward to try to soothe diverse opinions and find ways we can all work toward the same goal."

The Irvine Unified School District on Tuesday named Patricia Clark White, a former Orange County teacher, as its new superintendent. White, who has been the schools chief in nearby Encinitas since 1993, becomes the first woman named permanently to a school superintendent's post in Orange County. "She is straightforward, extremely direct and very bright," board President Margie Wakeham said. "Her dedication to children just shows through everything." The new superintendent will begin Oct.

Stevie Connelly took a quick glance into the empty principal's office at Notre Dame High School, smiled to herself and then walked down the hall to her much smaller vice principal's cubicle. To the casual observer, Connelly merely seemed to be looking for Principal David Doyle. But she was actually surveying what will become her office in September when she takes over as the first woman principal in the 50-year history of the Roman Catholic college preparatory school.

Cynthia F. Grennan, Orange County's first female school superintendent, will step down Wednesday as head of the Anaheim Union High School District. The Board of Trustees will meet the next day to consider naming a replacement. Grennan, 57, who describes herself as an "old-fashioned schoolmarm," said she is "selfishly" opting for an early retirement to "improve the quality of my life and have some fun."

The Irvine Unified School District on Tuesday named Patricia Clark White, a former Orange County teacher, as its new superintendent. White, who has been the schools chief in nearby Encinitas since 1993, becomes the first woman named permanently to a school superintendent's post in Orange County. "She is straightforward, extremely direct and very bright," board President Margie Wakeham said. "Her dedication to children just shows through everything." The new superintendent will begin Oct.

Ruth Simmons, a sharecropper's daughter who went on to earn a doctorate in romance languages, was named president of Brown University on Thursday, becoming the first black to lead an Ivy League school. Simmons, the 55-year-old president of Smith College, succeeds Gordon Gee, who resigned from Brown in February to become chancellor of Vanderbilt University. Simmons grew up poor in Texas, the youngest of 12 children.

In a statement marked by personal reflections on her own encounters with discrimination, Cal State Northridge President Blenda Wilson on Tuesday issued a strong defense of affirmative action policies, but declined to take a stand on a controversial proposed state initiative. Wilson said her own life experiences--including being denied a job as a young woman because she was black and being counseled in school to become a secretary--have convinced her of the need for affirmative action.

The administrator who oversaw the earthquake recovery program at Cal State Northridge for the past two years has been reassigned amid complaints work has lagged and other problems, such as alleged conflict of interest.