Susan Traverso is the President of

Thiel College Thiel College (, ) is a private college in Greenville, Pennsylvania. It is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and is one of the smallest colleges or universities in the region with about 100 full-time and part time faculty ...

. She is their first female President, was officially announced as Thiel College's 20th president on May 17, 2016, took office August 1, 2016 and celebrated her inauguration on May 5, 2017. Traverso was Professor of History at

North Central College North Central College is a private college in Naperville, Illinois. It is affiliated with the United Methodist Church and has nearly 70 areas of study in undergraduate majors, minors, and programs through 19 academic departments organized in thre ...

, and then served as the provost of

Elizabethtown College Elizabethtown College (informally E-town) is a private college in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. History Founding and early years Founded in 1899, Elizabethtown College is one of many higher learning institutions founded in the 19th century by c ...

from 2007 to 2016. Her Peace Corps service in

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the north and Oman to the northeast an ...

and further service of educational coordinator was of interest to the search committee. She also served in

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria ...

and

.Thiel College's first female president takes office
/ref> President Traverso is also a Board of Trustees member for the Pittsburgh-based Dietrich Foundation. The Dietrich Foundation's primary mission is to benefit higher education, principally in the greater Pittsburgh area, by providing ongoing and increasing financial support to six educational institutions. The Foundation also distributes funds to nine other charitable beneficiaries in western Pennsylvania. She previously chaired the board of the Lancaster Symphony Orchestra and was a member of the board of the Pennsylvania College of Art and Design.

Education

She has a bachelor's degree in history and communication from

Simmons College Institutions of learning called Simmons College or Simmons University include: * Simmons University, a women's liberal arts college in Boston, Massachusetts * Simmons College of Kentucky, a historically black college in Louisville, Kentucky * Har ...

(1983) and doctoral and master's degrees in history from the

University of Wisconsin-Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which ...

(1989 and 1995).Meet President Traverso
/ref>

References

Living people Simmons University alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science alumni Elizabethtown College people Heads of universities and colleges in the United States Peace Corps volunteers Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-academic-administrator-stub