Oglethorpe University, the private liberal arts school in Brookhaven, now officially has a woman as its president for the first time since its 1835 founding.
The board of trustees voted unanimously late last week to appoint Kathryn McClymond as president following the resignation of Nick Ladany, who left in June for a job leading San Francisco Bay University in Fremont, California.
McClymond, 63, previously served as Oglethorpe’s provost and then as interim president the past few months.
“I am really proud of what we’re doing and excited about where we’re headed, and it seemed the right moment to step in,” she said in a Friday phone interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Credit: Christina Matacotta
Credit: Christina Matacotta
Board Chair Tammy Pearson said trustees opted not to launch a search for the next president after reviewing a list of qualifications they had created during previous hiring efforts.
In a statement, Pearson called McClymond “the right choice at the right time” and added: “We realized we already had that candidate, and a national search was not needed.”
This fall, Oglethorpe hit a record-high enrollment for the second year in a row. The school enrolled 1,529 students, up just over 2% from last year. The school also started a master of business administration program.
Credit: Christina Matacotta
Credit: Christina Matacotta
McClymond highlighted the diversity of the student body, where nearly 60% are students of color and almost 40% are the first in their families to go to college. About 37% of Oglethorpe students are eligible for a federal Pell Grant, awarded to students with significant financial need.
“I don’t think that’s the story of Oglethorpe most people know. We are proud of that,” she said.
She expects enrollment to hold steady, or climb slightly higher, while maintaining a personalized experience for students and academic quality. Robust student support services, including advising help and mental health counseling, have improved students’ college experience, she said.
Helping students pay for college is among her priorities, and McClymond said she’s working to grow scholarship funding.
She said she’s also committed to working with faculty and ensuring their academic freedom.
“I want our faculty to feel free to innovate and to push our students in their learning and not feel like there are other folks who are trying to get into the classroom and do their job for them,” she said.
Oglethorpe hired McClymond as provost in 2021. She previously worked for more than two decades at Georgia State University, including as associate dean of faculty affairs in the College of Arts & Sciences.
She received her doctorate and master’s degrees in religious studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara. McClymond studied history and literature as an undergraduate at Harvard University.
