Carolyn A. Martin

Carolyn A. Martin is the 19th President of Amherst College since 2011. Previously, she had served as Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison (2008-2011) and as Provost of Cornell University (2000-2008). As Chancellor at Wisconsin, Martin led successful efforts to increase need-based financial aid, improve undergraduate education, and enhance research. She launched the Madison Initiative for Undergraduates to promote student advising, innovations in undergraduate programs, and faculty diversity, adding eighty faculty positions to offset the impact of earlier budget cuts on undergraduate education. At Cornell, Martin oversaw the construction of the life sciences building, helped increase the stature of humanities research and education, and developed the University's fundraising priorities for its capital campaign. She is a highly regarded scholar of German studies and author of two books, Woman and Modernity: The (Life)Styles of Lou Andreas-Salomé (1991) and Femininity Played Straight: The Significance of Being Lesbian (1997).