Meet Sarah Bolton

In July 2022, just weeks before the newest Whitties arrive on campus, there will be another momentous move-in day on Boyer Avenue. Dr. Sarah Bolton will officially take office, becoming Whitman College’s 15th president.

After a nationwide search, she was the unanimous choice of the college’s Board of Trustees from what was a deep and diverse pool of highly regarded leaders. Bolton is currently the president of The College of Wooster in Ohio and will succeed President Kathleen Murray, who retires at the end of the school year after seven years of leadership of the college.

Prior to her presidency at Wooster, Bolton spent more than 20 years at Williams College in Massachusetts, first as a professor of physics and then as Dean of the College.

Who Is Sarah Bolton?

To say she’s someone who is deeply curious and enthusiastic—fascinated by discovery and the world around her—might explain Bolton’s scholastic path in the sciences. She earned her Bachelor of Science in physics and biophysics from Brown University, in Providence, Rhode Island, followed by a Master of Arts as well as a Ph.D. in physics from the University of California, Berkeley.

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As a young science student, Bolton often found she stood out in a way that wasn’t necessarily about the work. “I made my way through middle school, high school and college, and I was the only girl on the bus … the only girl on the math team, the only woman in the physics class,” she says.

Those early experiences shaped the teacher she became and still influence her work and values today, Bolton says. Being different from her peers in the classroom, she began to notice “whose voices are in the room and whose are not, who automatically imagines themselves as belonging and who doesn’t … and what kinds of roles do teaching and leadership play in creating a truly inclusive environment.”

As Whitman’s 2021 Presidential Search Committee considered candidates, many members noted Bolton’s passion for opening doors for all students and her commitment to the liberal arts as giving them great confidence in her ability to lead the college forward.

“Sarah believes a great liberal arts education like Whitman’s is more important than ever—preparing students to impact the world in ways that are so greatly needed at this moment,” says Joe Davis, chair of the Board of Trustees.

In Her Own Words

Whitman’s 15th president shares more about herself, her thoughts on higher education and what makes her excited about the future.

Bolton on her love of science …

“I liked science even when I was a little kid. But I think I was really inspired to do it by a teacher in middle school. Mr. Messersmith: If you’re out there, big shout out. He let me do science in an exploratory way. He let me do the experiment that he planned on my own, at my own pace and after school. He really let me engage and take it on as my own project.”

Bolton on what captivated her about teaching …

“I was at UC Berkeley and I could see what the faculty got to do at the front of the classroom, which was exciting. But I actually thought what I got to do as a graduate teaching assistant, which was meeting individually with students, helping them get unstuck on their homework or the laboratory experiment they were doing, helping them find ways that they could solve tough problems—I thought I was having all the fun!”

Bolton on what’s critical about a liberal arts education …

“Learning broadly … understanding science, human experience, artistic expression, literature and the world … understanding yourself and people who are different from you in a deep way—that is hugely important in every field of endeavor. When I talk to alumni, no matter what kind of work they’re doing, they’re so often talking about their experiences learning outside of their major and how powerful that’s been in their lives, both personally and professionally. I hear it from alumni of liberal arts colleges who graduated two weeks ago, and I hear it from alumni of liberal arts colleges who graduated 60 years ago.”

Bolton on what’s at the heart of the Whitman experience …

“Whitman’s values are a really big piece of why I chose to make this move to lead and steward this amazing community. I see how Whitman is living its deepest values, including the central values around exploration of ideas and connection of people. The way that students and faculty work together to create a community of learners … that vibrant classroom experience, the extraordinary liberal arts learning that students are doing inside the classroom. And then the way that’s embedded in this beautifully collaborative, connected community of care, where people are paying attention to one another, where they’re learning from one another and also supporting one another’s learning.”

Bolton on her professional superpower …

“Joy. I love this work. I love the young people … the students I met at Whitman, the ways they envision the world and the work they want to do. It’s just such a deep pleasure to be part of this moment in their lives and building something for them, for their futures and for the students that will follow them.”

Bolton on Whitman students …

“Whitman students are brilliant. They are curious, they are kind, they are intentional in their relationships with one another and with their learning. They’re ambitious in the best sense. Ambitious not in the sense of ‘we all want to be famous’ or ‘we all want to be wealthy,’ but ambitious in the sense that ‘we want to make a difference.’”

Bolton on what today’s students need and deserve …

“As we move forward, it’s absolutely necessary that colleges become places that are genuinely welcoming and fully meet what we promise for every student—and that includes intentional career exploration and career planning. They will have this extraordinary Whitman education. They should study what they love and be excited about it. And at the same time, we are assuring students that we’re going to help them build a path to lifelong work that they care about and also to a strong launch right out of college.”

An Historic Moment

“This is the first time that Whitman has recruited a sitting president to the job,” says Trustee Danielle Garbe Reser ’97, chair of the Presidential Search Committee, “I believe that’s a testimony to the current strength of the college and the result of decades of exceptional stewardship of the institution and its resources.”

Bolton plans to move to Walla Walla with her husband this summer.

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