Valerie Smith (academic)
Valerie Smith | |
|---|---|
| 15th President of Swarthmore College | |
| Assumed office July 1, 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Rebecca Chopp |
| Dean of the College of Princeton University | |
| In office July 1, 2011 – June 1, 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Nancy Weiss Malkiel |
| Succeeded by | Jill Dolan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | February 19, 1956 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Education | Bates College (BA) University of Virginia (MA, PhD) |
Valerie Smith (born February 19, 1956) is an American academic administrator and scholar of African-American literature and culture. She is the 15th and current president of Swarthmore College.
She taught at Princeton University from 1980 to 1989 and at University of California, Los Angeles, from 1989 to 2000. In 2000, Smith returned to Princeton as the Woodrow Wilson Professor of Literature and director of the program in African American Studies. From 2006 to 2009, Smith served as the founding director of Princeton's interdisciplinary Center for African American Studies. After being the dean of the university's college, Smith became the president of Swarthmore College in July 2015.