Presidential Search
The Search for the 12th President of Bennington College is Underway
We are pleased to announce that the search for the next President of Bennington College is now underway. This is an exciting and significant moment for Bennington, as our next President will lead the College to the successful culmination of its first 100 years and shape its legacy for decades to come.
Forthcoming Leadership Profile
The next President will join a community defined by creativity, inquiry, and the courage to imagine new possibilities and will guide the College into its next chapter of progressive liberal arts education.
We hope to find a thoughtful and passionate leader. We seek an individual who champions our unique pedagogical approach through on-campus collaboration and enthusiastic stewardship. This person should be a patient listener who builds trust across diverse constituencies, who invests time (and resources) to promote change, who directs our community towards bold ideas, and who steers that collective vision into reality. We expect this individual to not only transform our community, but be transformed as well.
The full leadership profile will be provided in this space shortly.
Bennington at a Glance
759
Undergraduate students from 32 states and 25 countries
150
Graduate Students
$50M
Operating Budget
“I didn’t learn science from textbooks. At Bennington, I learned science by performing experiments and reading primary literature: in other words, working as a professional scientist.”
- Carlos Mendez-Dorantes ’15 Ph.D., Jane Coffin Childs Research Fellow at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School
Search Committee Members
The search committee brings together representatives from our trustees, faculty-practicioners, staff, students, and alumni whose years of experience span multiple Bennington generations.
Priscilla Alexander ’58, trustee
Deborah Borda ’71, trustee
Miriam Campbell ’26, student
Matthew Clarke, trustee
Ciaran Cooper ’87, MFA ’04, trustee, Committee Chair
Tobey Diller ’89, alumni
Angel Kwasniak, staff
Sawyer London ’24, trustee
Anina Major, faculty
Charlie Nadler, staff
Noëlle Rouxel-Cubberly, faculty
Nadiah Ruopp ’28, student
Mary Scanlan ’91, trustee
Sekka Scher ’90, trustee
Nick Stephens ’77, trustee, Board Chair
Search Process
- Presidential Search Committee Announcement
- Developing the Presidential Profile
- Finalizing Leadership Profile and Begin Seeking Candidates
- Applicant Review and Selection
- Selecting the 12th President
- Welcoming the new President
Community Updates
The Presidential Search Committee will share periodic updates throughout the search for Bennington’s 12th president. News and email updates will be available below.
| Presidential Search Committee Announcement (email) December 10, 2025 |
| Searching for Bennington’s 12th President: Community Input (email) November 25, 2025 |
| Community Forums (email) November 13, 2025 |
| Announcing Interim President Elissa Tenny October 2, 2025 |
| Next Chapters for Laura Walker and Bennington College August 28, 2025 |