Jo Ellen Johnson Parker has been named the next president of Sweet Briar College effective July 1, 2009. The board of directors announced its decision Feb. 6. She will succeed Elisabeth Showalter Muhlenfeld, who is retiring after 13 years as the College's ninth president.

Jo Ellen Parker"Dr. Parker received a unanimous recommendation from the presidential search committee, an equally enthusiastic endorsement of the board of directors and widespread, strong support from the campus community," said Dr. Virginia Collier, who chairs the board. "We are delighted to find a new president who will bring vision and creativity to her work at Sweet Briar and is well prepared to lead the College to the next level of excellence."

A graduate of Bryn Mawr College, Parker earned her Ph.D. in English literature from the University of Pennsylvania. From 1984 to 1996 she taught Victorian literature, women's literature and composition at Bryn Mawr. She also served as an academic affairs/student life administrator with varied responsibilities, including academic advising and student life programming. She eventually held the title of associate dean for special academic programs.

From 1996 to 2004, Parker served as president of the Great Lakes Colleges Association, where her work focused on pedagogical innovation, diversity programming and international education. At GLCA, she led the creation of the Global Partners Project, which engaged 42 liberal arts colleges belonging to three consortia in programs exploring new models in international education. To support this initiative, she coordinated the fundraising of approximately $7 million. She also wrote a handbook, "Best Practices in Recruiting Faculty of Color," for use on all GLCA member campuses.

Since 2004 Parker has served as the executive director of the Ann Arbor, Mich.-based National Institute for Technology and Liberal Education. Known as NITLE, the non-profit organization's goal is "advancing liberal education in the digital age."

Under her leadership, NITLE (www.nitle.org), has grown into an international organization serving nearly 150 liberal arts colleges in the United States and abroad through faculty and professional development programs and support services. She led the development of NITLE's current programming and organizational models and has raised more than $15 million in philanthropic support to launch them.

These leadership roles were important considerations in Parker's selection, Collier said. "Jo Ellen Parker is a national leader in higher education who has worked extensively with top liberal arts colleges as they re-think what it means today to offer students the finest possible liberal arts education, particularly in light of new technologies and globalization."

During a visit to Sweet Briar as a candidate, Parker told the campus community that the opportunity to lead the College occurs at a good transition time in NITLE's development. From a personal standpoint, she is eager to return to the academic environment. Parker, who spent much of her career at a women's liberal arts college, sees in Sweet Briar a place where her leadership mantras — especially "We're building something, not working somewhere" — will fit right in.

"Sweet Briar is a gem," she said in a later statement. "The Sweet Briar Promise exemplifies the dedication of the faculty and the College to preparing women for success and leadership in what will no doubt be very complicated 21st-century lives. Having long maintained that a rigorous liberal education, experienced in a vital community of learners, is the best possible preparation for whatever life brings, I am deeply honored to have been invited to serve at Sweet Briar, where this philosophy informs everything the College does."

Parker has published on a variety of topics including the novelist George Eliot, teaching composition and academic collaboration. For several years she broadcast commentaries on higher education for National Public Radio, and she regularly speaks to diverse audiences on teaching, liberal education and technology. She is a member of the Forum for the Future of Higher Education, serves on the editorial board of the Association of American Colleges and University's publication Liberal Education and is a trustee of Albion College.

She lives in Brighton, Mich., with her husband, Richard G. Manasa, a former musician who now works in information technology. She is the mother of John Parker, 24, and the stepmother of Morgan Manasa, 28.