Sarah Bolton

Dr. Sarah Bolton was unanimously selected by the Whitman College Board of Trustees to be the college’s 15th President. Bolton is a physicist, professor and administrator with more than 25 years of experience in higher education and a long-standing commitment to the liberal arts. She succeeded President Kathleen M. Murray upon her retirement at the end of the 2021–2022 academic year.

Bolton will be Whitman’s first president in many decades to come from an academic career in science. She was encouraged to pursue physics from an early age thanks to a middle school teacher and later mentors who encouraged her to believe in her capacity to engage and explore in a field of study where there were very few, if any, other women at the time. This practice of making space to actively include listen to voices from all backgrounds remains a guiding principle in her life and career.