Agnes Scott College names next president

Agnes Scott College named Leocadia I. Zak its ninth president.

Zak, 60, served seven years as director of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency. She was appointed by President Barack Obama to that position and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2010. She will become president of the Decatur college on July 1 by a unanimous vote of the college’s board.

A graduate of the all-women’s Mount Holyoke College, she received a law degree from Northeastern University School of Law.  The new leader was announced in Tuesday in front of several hundred students, faculty, and staff -- many of whom donned the college’s signature purple color.