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Ruth P. Feingold will join 91���� on July 1 as Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the College.  She will also hold the rank of professor in the department of English with contributions to Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies. Dr. Feingold currently serves as Dean of the College and Dean of the Faculty of Arts & Sciences at Willamette University in Salem, OR.

Dr. Feingold has held numerous leadership positions at Willamette.  Her scholarship and teaching of postcolonial and contemporary British literature focuses on the interconnections of space, place, and gender in the context of empire and its aftermath, with a particular interest in children’s literature.  She is the author of multiple peer-reviewed articles, scholarly book chapters, reference and textbook chapters, and numerous invited conference panels.

“Dr. Feingold’s academic leadership has been informed by her passion for education as the most vital way of advocating for the dignity of individuals and thriving of communities. Her career has embodied the integration of great teaching, global and experiential learning, attention to collective equity, and innovative interdisciplinary scholarship that characterizes a 91���� education,” said 91���� President Anne F. Harris.  “I am excited to partner with her and 91����’s exceptional faculty to achieve the ambitious goals of our strategic plan, Knowledge into Action, an effort for which she is uniquely suited.”

As Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the College, Dr. Feingold will work to ensure that faculty members have the time and resources to fully explore and create knowledge, encourage interdepartmental collaboration and educational partnerships, and foster inclusive and sustainable academic governance.

“I am extremely excited to join the 91���� community: the college has a well-deserved reputation for academic excellence and commitment to the liberal arts, and its institutional values are well-aligned with my own. Everyone told me that 91���� was special, and that’s certainly what came across to me throughout the interview process, from everyone I met,” said Feingold.  “I look forward to partnering with students, faculty, staff, alumni, and the broader 91���� community to create opportunities that enrich the intellectual life of the college.”

Dr. Feingold’s many accomplishments include serving as co-principal investigator for the Northwest Five Colleges Consortium including Willamette, Reed College, Lewis & Clark, University of Puget Sound, and Whitman College. She served as PI for a Teagle Foundation Grant for Faculty-led curricular reform, with College of Idaho and Pacific University, and led a Mellon Foundation Grant and associated Mellon Foundation Planning Grant for curricular development to strengthen civic learning and engagement.  An advocate for embedding actionable diversity, equity, inclusion, and access principles throughout the faculty development and evaluation process, she also has overseen advising programs for at-risk students and led global learning opportunities in South Africa and India.

Dr. Feingold has held key academic leadership positions at Willamette University, including dean of the College of Arts & Sciences and special assistant to the president responsible for academic integration during the university’s merger process with the Pacific Northwest College of the Arts.  She was instrumental in the creation of a holistic first-year experience linking academic and student life components and spearheaded the development of new major programs in public health, data science, and musical theatre. At St. Mary’s College of Maryland, she served as associate dean of faculty, associate dean of academic services, interim dean of the core curriculum, assistant dean of the core curriculum and academic advising, and chair of the department of English. There, she led the development of a college-wide experiential learning curriculum.

Feingold was born and raised in Ann Arbor, MI.  She holds a B.A. from Oberlin College and earned her M.A. and Ph.D. in English language and literature from the University of Chicago. The community of 91���� looks forward to welcoming her this summer and to joining her leadership for our shared academic endeavors.