Wendy Raymond

An accomplished molecular biologist, award-winning teacher, and academic leader, Wendy Raymond became the 16th president of Haverford College on July 1, 2019. At Haverford, she has undertaken a new strategic planning process, led the College's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and, while also serving as interim chief diversity officer, is overseeing the creation of Haverford's first anti-racism action plan.

Beginning in 2013 she served as vice president for academic affairs and dean of faculty at Davidson College, where she oversaw a significant reinvestment in faculty positions, research support, and curricular development. As Davidson’s chief diversity officer, Raymond led a multidimensional effort to broaden and deepen faculty diversity, equity, and inclusion. From 2014 through 2016, she was chair of the Committee on Equal Opportunities in Science and Engineering, a Congressionally mandated advisory committee to the National Science Foundation on which she had served since 2010.

Prior to Davidson, Raymond was professor of biology at Williams College, where she began teaching in 1994 with a specialty in molecular genetics. She ran an active research laboratory with funding from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. From 2004 to 2008 she was program director of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s undergraduate science program at Williams, involving science outreach to K–12 schools and research partnerships with other colleges. In parallel, Raymond developed deep expertise in promoting diversity in the sciences and served as co-director of the Symposia on Diversity in the Sciences at Harvard University, the University of Washington, and the University of Louisiana at Monroe. After chairing the Committee on Diversity and Community at Williams, Raymond was named the college’s first associate dean for institutional diversity. She has gone on to gain national prominence for her work on issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion in academia, the sciences, and liberal arts institutions.