Dr. Judith S. White, President and Executive Director of HERS: Higher Education Resource Services, gave the 2014 Commencement address for Salem College. With a sincere passion for higher education and special ties to Salem, Dr. White is a motivator, educator, and friend.

Since 2005, Dr. White has served passionately at HERS, which seeks to sustain a community of women leaders through leadership development programs at higher education institutions across the country. Nearly 5,000 female faculty and staff members have participated in one of the HERS Institutes since 1976.

An advocate for strong female leadership, Dr. White has launched many new programs with a focus on gender equity in higher education during her tenure. Some of these include the HERS Institute at the University of Denver, an expansion of the HERS Institute at Wellesley College, and a revision of the HERS Bryn Mawr Summer Institute. Under Dr. White’s leadership, HERS has also completed their second Summit for Women Presidents and Chancellors, which was held in Denver, Colorado last month.

Prior to her work with HERS, Dr. White served as Assistant Vice President of Campus Services at Duke University, while teaching as an Adjunct Professor of Women’s Studies. She has also held positions at UNC-Charlotte, Queens College, and at Pratt Institute. At UNC Greensboro and Dartmouth College, she led campus Women’s Resource Centers, which benefitted students, faculty, and staff.

Dr. White’s work with women’s resource centers was recognized in 2012, with the Founders Award from the Women’s Center Committee of the National Women’s Studies Association. This award highlighted her deep commitment to higher education for women and labeled her as a pioneer in the movement to create sustainable Women’s Centers for higher education institutions.

Dr. White currently serves on the board of the National Council for Research on Women and has served as a Senior Fellow of the Association of American Colleges and Universities. She returns to Salem College today, after growing up in Winston-Salem and spending her first year of collegiate study with us before transferring to Princeton University.

Dr. White's Commencement address focused on empowering the next generation of leaders from Salem. "Join with others in creating communities in which women's leadership is the norm, not something special or unique," she said as she charged the graduating class to become exemplary leaders.

Published on May 24, 2014