Sarah S. Willie-LeBreton

Sarah Willie-LeBreton has served as the 12th president of Smith College since 2023. She earned a B.A. from Haverford College, and an M.A. and Ph.D. from Northwestern University, all in Sociology. She taught at Colby and Bard Colleges before being tenured at Swarthmore College, where she spent 26 years, concluding with her appointment as provost and dean of the faculty.

An accomplished administrator, scholar, and sociologist who studies race and ethnicity and social inequality, Willie-LeBreton is known for her commitment to the liberal arts, strengthening community, and energizing the work of equity and inclusion. She is the author of two books and several dozen articles, essays, reviews, and op-ed columns. An applied sociologist, she believes in bringing research and theory to bear on everyday challenges.

A thought partner in board governance, her board service has included Pendle Hill Quaker Center, Haverford College, Benchmark School, the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation, and the Grand Canyon Conservancy. Currently, Willie-LeBreton serves on the boards of the national Women’s College Coalition, the Five College Consortium in Western Massachusetts, the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Massachusetts, and Integrated Impact Group, a private consulting firm.

Over the course of her career, she has been active in the Eastern Sociological Society, the American Sociological Association (on whose Executive Office and Budget board she served and with whose Departmental Resources Group she worked), Sociologists for Women in Society, the Association of Black Sociologists, and Philadelphia Yearly Meeting (the largest regional association of Quaker meetings in the United States).