Kimberly Wright Cassidy

Biography

Kimberly Wright Cassidy served as President of Bryn Mawr College from 2013-2024. A faculty member at Bryn Mawr since 1993, Cassidy served as the College’s Provost from 2007-2013.

As both Provost and President, Cassidy has promoted academic innovation, and has partnered with faculty to develop new academic programs and new approaches to teaching in a liberal arts context. Under her leadership, Bryn Mawr has created its distinctive multi-disciplinary “360°” course clusters; added new interdisciplinary academic programs and majors, including Neuroscience, Data Science, and International Studies; and worked with Haverford and Swarthmore Colleges to develop “TriCo Philly,” a collaborative academic program based in the city of Philadelphia. She has embraced the possibilities offered by digital tools to enhance traditional classroom and laboratory experiences through blended learning, and worked with colleagues to build curricular and co-curricular opportunities for all students to gain critical digital competencies.

Cassidy led development of Excellence in Action, a strategic vision for Bryn Mawr’s undergraduate college, as well as initiatives to enhance the College’s distinctive, select graduate programs. She has also forged a broad institutional commitment to advancing diversity, inclusion, and equity. During her presidency the College has achieved a substantial increase in administrative, faculty, and staff diversity, worked to address institutional legacies of exclusion, and created a diverse array of programmatic support to foster inclusion along with opportunities for community learning.

Her presidency has been marked by strong fiscal management and growth in financial resources. At the end of fiscal year 2022, Bryn Mawr’s endowment was valued at $1.2B, and the College completed its most successful fundraising campaign in history, exceeding its goal by more than $50M. Increased financial support for students was a major focus of the campaign, which generated more than $60M in new endowed scholarship funds; enabled reduction of loan and summer savings expectations for students receiving need-based aid, including elimination of loans for families earning under $60,000/ year; and funded creation of the Career and Civic Engagement Center and hundreds of new internships.

Former President Cassidy’s tenure is distinguished by her commitment to Bryn Mawr’s people and the importance of community. From increased research support to substantial salary increases (especially for hourly wage staff and students), she has prioritized investing in those who collectively create a distinctive educational experience for Bryn Mawr’s students. She has also promoted community-building through a variety of programs that bring students, faculty, and staff together for fun and for celebration.

Cassidy is a public advocate for gender equity, with a focus on equity issues in STEM disciplines and workplaces.

Prior to her appointment to Provost, Cassidy was a member of Bryn Mawr’s Department of Psychology, serving as chair from 2004-2007. She continues to teach Educational Psychology every fall. Cassidy earned her M.A. and Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor’s degree with distinction in psychology from Swarthmore College.