Thursday, 4:30 PM
Wellesley taps Yale biologist to be its next president
(Wellesley College)
Kim Bottomly will be the ninth Wellesley president who did not graduate from the college.
By James Vaznis, Globe Staff
Wellesley College announced today that a Yale biologist and deputy provost will be its 13th president.
Kim Bottomly, a Montana native who specializes in the biology of the immune system, will start her duties on Aug. 1, overseeing the 2,300 student campus. She replaces Diana Chapman Walsh, who is retiring on June 30 after nearly 14 years as president.
"I am excited about assuming the leadership of an institution known for educating women who become leaders in all fields of human endeavor," Bottomly said in a statement.
Unlike Chapman, Bottomly is not a Wellesley alumna. She graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in zoology and earned her doctorate in biological structure from the University of Washington School of Medicine. Bottomly will be the ninth president who did not graduate from Wellesley.
After conducting postdoctoral work in immunology at the National Institutes of Health, she joined the Yale faculty in 1980. As a deputy provost, Chapman oversaw science, technology, and faculty development. She had a reputation for recruiting and retaining women in the sciences and underrepresented minorities in all fields.
“Over the course of her distinguished scientific career, Kim has shown a deep commitment to the values that matter most to Wellesley – the education and empowerment of women, the pursuit of academic excellence, the intrinsic worth of creating and disseminating knowledge,” Andrew Shennan, dean of the college, said in a statement. “She is a scholar attuned to the changing character of academic disciplines and the changing environment of higher education, a scholar who is unafraid of experimentation and creative problem-solving – in short, the right person to help Wellesley realize its aspirations for the future.”
Victoria Herget, chairwoman of the board of trustees and a member of the presidential search committee, said in a statement that Bottomly is the perfect person to lead the college at this time in its history.
“Kim has the intellectual leadership, administrative experience and commitment to Wellesley’s mission and vision that are necessary to take this remarkable institution to the next level of excellence,” Herget said.
As a scientist, Bottomly pioneered studies defining cellular changes associated with allergic and asthmatic responses, according to Wellesley. Her studies showed how people responded to allergens and why inhaled allergens injure lungs. She is the principal investigator on five grants from the National Institutes of Health, as well as other research grants, which together support her 16-person laboratory at the Yale Medical School.
Bottomly lives in New Haven with her husband, Wayne Villemez, a professor of sociology at the University of Connecticut. From an earlier marriage to the late Charles Janeway, she has two daughters, a stepdaughter, and twin granddaughters.
