In Praise of Wendy Raymond

Wendy leaves Davidson a better place. She helped build an environment where our entire community works together to see beyond the well-traveled path. She helped make it easier for students both to explore the intriguing places where disciplines overlap and to discover new knowledge through original research. She supported faculty as they nurtured a culture focused on learning, discovery and engagement. Wendy led our efforts to recruit the faculty of the future, capable together of cultivating the capacities and skills our students will need to lead and serve a rapidly evolving world. And Wendy brought Davidson a great distance in creating a more inclusive community. I am grateful for all she has given this community and excited for her as she assumes her new role at Haverford.

Carol Quillen
President of Davidson College

Haverford has chosen one of America's finest academic leaders to be its next president. Wendy Raymond is a thoughtful and courageous voice in American higher education. Most important, she and the college have much in common, including a deep appreciation of the value of liberal arts and inclusive excellence. This next period will be very exciting for both the college and its new president.

Freeman A. Hrabowski, III
President
UMBC: An Honors University in Maryland

Wendy Raymond is a first-rate leader with a background in top liberal arts colleges that is ideal for Haverford’s presidency. Her record as research scientist and teacher is superb and furnishes the foundation of her considerable success as provost at Davidson. Wendy thoroughly understands Haverford’s values and envisions collaborating with faculty, students, staff and alumni to plan the college’s future. I could not be more confident that Haverford is in excellent hands going forward.

Hunter Rawlings III '66
Professor and University President Emeritus at the Department of Classics at Cornell University

I have known Wendy for almost 20 years. We were both biology faculty members; she was at Williams and I was at Wellesley College. We first met because of our commitment to our science classrooms being diverse and inclusive environments. Since that time, we have followed each others’ careers and supported each other as we moved from the classroom to administration. Wendy is smart, value-driven and totally committed to the liberal arts. She brings strong analytical skills and a data-informed approach that you would expect from a scientist. Over the years, we have discussed challenges and opportunities in specific situations and more broadly in higher education. There is no one whose opinion I value more when I’m faced with a difficult situation. I am thrilled that she will now be a presidential colleague.

Joanne Berger-Sweeney
President, Trinity College

Wendy is a superb academic leader. She is a distinguished scientist and outstanding teacher, steeped in the values of the liberal arts and committed to a definition of excellence built on innovation and inclusion. Her clarity of vision, firmness of purpose, and generosity of spirit are contagious—colleagues trust her and they want to work with her. In Wendy Raymond, Haverford has made an inspired and inspiring choice.

Clayton Spencer
President, Bates College

Wendy is among the thought leaders in American higher education on what we need to do as institutions and as a nation to fully cultivate talent and reap the benefit of our exploding diversity. The sensibilities she has honed as a scientist known as an excellent scholar, teacher, and mentor, and through her leadership roles at Williams, Davidson, and the National Science Foundation Committee on Equal Opportunities in Science and Engineering, seem to me to fit perfectly with Haverford’s own traditions as a cultivator and nurturer of talent. Congratulations to both Wendy and Haverford!

Nancy Cantor
Chancellor, Rutgers University

Great for Wendy! Great for Haverford! Can’t think of a better choice.

Morton Schapiro
Professor and President
Northwestern University