Bowdoin College chooses new president

Mar. 9—The Bowdoin College Board of Trustees has elected Safa Zaki as the sixteenth president of Bowdoin College in Brunswick.

Zaki, the current dean of faculty and a professor of psychology at Williams College in Massachusetts, will succeed Clayton Rose, who announced last year he was stepping down after eight years as president.

"In Safa Zaki, Bowdoin has found a distinguished scholar and leader with a global perspective who believes deeply in the transformative power of a liberal arts education," Scott Perper, chair of the Bowdoin board, said in a statement. "Her exceptional career in the academy, her appreciation for the humanities as well as science and technology, and her commitment to the imperatives of diversity, equity, and inclusion coupled with an authentic and engaging approach to leadership and team building make Safa the right choice for Bowdoin."

A 19-member search committee recommended Zaki to the board of trustees. Sydney Asbury, a Bowdoin trustee and co-chair of the search committee, said it was clear from the moment they met Zaki that she was "a special person with the leadership experience and values to make a profound impact on the Bowdoin community."

Zaki will become the first woman to lead the college in its 229-year history.

Zaki is a psychologist and cognitive scientist whose research focuses on how people divide the world into categories. She was born in Egypt, and grew up in a number of countries including Tanzania, Syria, Jordan and Trinidad and Tobago. She earned her undergraduate degree at American University in Cairo, then moved to the United States in 1990 to pursue her master's degree and doctorate at Arizona State University.

In 2002, she joined the faculty at Williams, where she has come to be known as an advocate for faculty and staff, according to Perper. She currently oversees academic departments and programs and is responsible for curriculum, recruitment and faculty promotions.

"My years at Williams have been wonderful and I know Bowdoin shares many similar values, along with its own unique sense of community and its own traditions. I am particularly inspired by Bowdoin's commitment to the common good, something I sensed in all my conversations throughout the search process and in my time on campus," Zaki said in a statement.

Rose, whose time at Bowdoin ends after this academic year, said he is thrilled Zaki will lead the college.

"Safa's character, exemplary scholarship and teaching, dedication to students, and deep experience as an administrator and colleague to faculty and staff make her the perfect leader for Bowdoin," he said.

This story will be updated.