Jill Tiefenthaler named president of Colorado College
Colorado College
April 5, 2011
The Colorado College Board of Trustees announced today that Jill Tiefenthaler, provost and professor of economics at Wake Forest University, will become Colorado College's 13th president. Tiefenthaler will succeed current President Richard F. Celeste, who will retire on June 30, 2011, after leading the college for nine years.
The trustees elected Tiefenthaler after a nationwide search conducted by a presidential search committee that included trustees, alumni, faculty, staff and students. The committee considered highly accomplished leaders from a pool of hundreds of candidates with diverse backgrounds.
"We set our sights high, seeking a president who could combine a collaborative leadership style with a penchant for getting things done. We sought a charismatic leader with a deep understanding of the liberal arts, who relates effectively to students, parents, alumni and the world. We found all of that – and more – in Dr. Jill Tiefenthaler," said Suzanne Woolsey, chair of the Colorado College Board of Trustees. "She will enable Colorado College to be the best, and she is poised to become a national leader in defining the future of colleges."
Tiefenthaler said Colorado College's innovative spirit – demonstrated by the college's Block Plan, in which students immerse themselves in one course at a time – and its strong commitment to liberal arts teaching drew her to the institution.
"I was looking for a place that shared my values – great faith in the liberal arts, faculty-student engagement, experiential education, diversity and community – and that was also willing to take a few risks, with a goal of continually building academic excellence," Tiefenthaler said. "I know I have found just the place."
Tiefenthaler joined Wake Forest University as provost and professor of economics in August 2007. She earned master's and doctoral degrees in economics from Duke University in 1989 and 1991, respectively, and a bachelor's degree in economics from Saint Mary's College in South Bend, Ind., in 1987. Prior to joining Wake Forest, she taught economics at Colgate University in Hamilton, N.Y., advancing to full professor there, chairing the economics department from 2000-2003 and serving as associate dean of the faculty from 2003-2006.
With research interests focused on labor economics, economics of the family and development economics, she has published numerous scholarly journal articles, several of them related to the economics of domestic violence. Some of her cross-cultural academic work includes studies conducted in the Philippines and Brazil, including a study for the World Bank in the 1990s.
