WINSTON-SALEM, NC (JUNE 23, 2020)—The Salem Academy and College Board of Trustees elected two new board members, Dr. Judith Simpson White and Dr. Eileen B. Wilson-Oyelaran, effective May 21, 2020. The new directors were each elected for a four-year term.

Dr. Judith Simpson White grew up in Winston-Salem, graduated from Reynolds High School, and entered Salem College in 1968. After two years, she transferred to Princeton University during its transition to co-education. She graduated with the class of 1972, the last class to enter Princeton as an all-male institution. White earned a master’s degree in English at Columbia University and a PhD degree from the University of Virginia. 

In 1982, she became the founding director of the Women’s Resource Center at UNC-Greensboro, the start of career as an advocate for gender and racial equity and women’s leadership in higher education.

In 2005, White was selected as president of HERS, Higher Education Resource Services, a national leadership development program for women faculty and administrators founded in 1972. When White retired from HERS in 2018, she received the American Council on Education (ACE) Donna Shavlik Award to honor her sustained commitment to advancing women in higher education through leadership, mentoring, career development, and improvements to campus climate. 

Before leading HERS, White served at Duke University for 12 years, first as special assistant to President Nan Keohane and then as assistant vice president in the Office of the Executive Vice President. Previously she held positions at Dartmouth College, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and Queens College (now Queens University). 

White has also served on the board of the National Council for Research on Women and as a Senior Fellow of the Association of American Colleges and Universities. In 2014, she delivered the Commencement Address at Salem College. Last summer, she delivered the Keynote at the HERS East Africa Academy in Kampala, Uganda. 

Dr. Eileen B. Wilson-Oyelaran, President Emerita of Kalamazoo College, led the institution for 11 years prior to her retirement in 2016. She currently serves as a Senior Fellow for Association of Governing Boards (AGB). Her previous positions include vice president and dean of the college at Salem Academy and College as well as faculty and administrative positions at Winston-Salem State University, North Carolina Wesleyan College, and Obafemi Awolowo University in Nigeria.

During her tenure at Kalamazoo, Wilson-Oyelaran led the most successful fundraising campaign in the college’s history to support scholarships, endowed professorships, capital projects, and the creation of the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership. Under her leadership, the institution heightened trustee and alumni engagement, revised the curriculum, and made considerable strides toward becoming a more diverse and inclusive campus.

Wilson-Oyelaran serves on the boards of trustees of the W. E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, United States International University Africa (Nairobi, Kenya) and her alma mater, Pomona College. Additionally, she is a member of the Advisory Board of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art.

Wilson-Oyelaran is the recipient of numerous honors and awards for her work in higher education, including the Gender Equity Architect Award from the American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education, the Star Award from the Posse Foundation, and an American Council of Education Fellowship. She earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Pomona College and MA and PhD degrees in education from the Claremont Graduate University.

About Salem Academy and College

Salem Academy and College is the oldest educational institution for girls and women in the United States. With more than 18,000 alumnae who serve as entrepreneurs, physicians, researchers, artists, lawyers, teachers, community volunteers, and corporate executives, Salem Academy and Salem College continues to educate the next generation of global leaders. For more information about Salem Academy, please visit salemacademy.com. For more information about Salem College, please visit salem.edu.