AMHERST — Jennifer Chrisler, interim president of Hampshire College for the past three months, will become the college’s ninth permanent president, an announcement made Thursday just days before the college celebrates its 55th anniversary.
“I believe in Hampshire’s promise, and I believe in its people,” Chrisler said in a statement issued by the college. “The college’s creation required a radical rethinking of how to approach the liberal arts, and we’ve been pushing higher education forward ever since.”
Chrisler, a Smith College alumna and mother of three sons, is a higher education administrator and leader, LGBTQIA+ advocate and nonprofit executive with a three-decade-long career in both private and public education, electoral politics and national public policy advocacy.
“Hampshire’s purpose is reinvention, which is a vital capacity in the current moment,” Chrisler said. “Now is the time to supercharge our work to envision a 21st century education that prioritizes student agency, adaptability and real-world impact. The key to all of this is to lay the groundwork for transformative growth with the Hampshire community, while ensuring Hampshire’s operational health.”
Chrisler, whose tenure at the college started in 2019, takes over for Ed Wingenbach, who served six years as the college’s leader before departing at the end of June to become president of the American College of Greece.
Chrisler began at a time when the board and community committed to Hampshire as an independent, autonomous institution, just after the college reversed its decision to seek a merger partner and not to admit a class that fall.
Jose Fuentes, who chairs Hampshire’s board, said Chrisler’s exemplary leadership has already proven essential for the college, bringing a combination of vision and resilience to the experimenting institution.
“In her, we have a steady and savvy financial hand, as well as a strategist who can see the macro trends in higher education and forge an innovative future for both Hampshire and the liberal arts,” Fuentes said.
Fuentes said the search process, working with Greenwood Asher & Associates, was deliberate and inclusive, with a search committee gathering input via in-person and virtual listening sessions, surveys and calls for email feedback. The position profile yielded more than 70 candidates.
With board support for Chrisler, due to both her insider’s knowledge of the college’s strengths and challenges and her background, the hiring affirmation was done.
In a message to the community, Fuentes wrote, “Jennifer has a compelling vision for what Hampshire can be. She knows what the job is, and she takes the backpack home every night. It takes a special person to want to do that, especially at this moment.”
As chief advancement officer, vice president of institutional support and interim
president, Chrisler was responsible for much of the college’s external presence and revenue
generation, including fundraising, enrollment and auxiliary enterprises. She rebuilt the
advancement and development operations, securing more than $52 million in unrestricted
operating support for the Change in the Making campaign, including three $5 million gifts and a total of seven donations of $1 million or more. These gifts represent the second, third and fourth largest gifts received by the college since its founding in 1970.
She led Hampshire’s rebranding, which included new print materials, a website overhaul, and internal and external messaging platforms. This helped to grow applications, with enrollment rising from a low of about 450 to nearly 800 full-time enrolled students, and she also supported efforts to enroll New College of Florida students when that institution was under attack for its own distinctive and progressive approach to education.
“I can’t think of a better person to take the reins at Hampshire College right now than Jennifer Chrisler,” said filmmaker Ken Burns, an alumnus of the college who co-chairs its Change in the Making campaign. “She has lived our recent past and knows the workings and the secret sauce of the college at every level.”
Previously, Chrisler was vice president of alumnae relations at Smith College, led the Family Equality Council, a national advocacy organization dedicated to full equality for modern American families, and currently chairs of the board for Fenway Health, which advocates for and delivers innovative, equitable, and accessible healthcare, supportive services, and transformative research and education, centering on LGBTQIA+ people, BIPOC individuals and other underserved communities.