Brandywine welcomes new chancellor

Penn State Brandywine welcomes Kristin Woolever as the fourth executive officer for the campus since its founding in 1967. She joined the campus as chancellor on February 1.

"I'm very excited to begin my service at Penn State Brandywine and build on the many successes that the campus has achieved," Woolever said. "As we look toward our 50th anniversary, we see tremendous potential to increase the impact we have on our students and our community through new programs, new facilities and new partnerships."

"Brandywine has a terrific faculty, staff and student body, and I'm eager to get to know them along with our alumni, neighbors and other valued partners," she added.

Woolever also thanked George W. Franz for serving as interim chancellor for the previous seven months. Franz had previously retired from his campus positions as director of academic affairs and professor of history.

"George provided strong leadership during this time of transition," Woolever said. "His deep knowledge of Brandywine and its history, as well as his extensive relationships with faculty and staff, kept the campus on a steady course. I am personally grateful for his support and advice as I prepared for my new role."

Woolever comes to Brandywine with a distinguished record of achievement in higher education, most recently serving as president of Prescott College in Arizona where she developed a 10-year strategic plan and raised funds to finance the institution's first student housing complex and campus commons. In addition, during her tenure a $30 million comprehensive campaign was launched, a local community advisory board was established and the administrative and academic structures were reorganized and downsized to achieve greater quality and efficiency.

Under Woolever's leadership, the college created and funded a Natural History Institute, expanded science labs, nearly doubled alumni giving, tripled legacy bequests, organized a strong network of alumni recruiters and created an alumni-endowed fund for faculty professional development.

Before leading Prescott, Woolever served as dean and director of the campus at the University of New Hampshire-Manchester and director of the Centre for Creative Change at Antioch University in Seattle. She spent 17 years at Northeastern University, where she held positions including director of assessment, director of graduate studies, director of the computer lab, professor of English, interim dean of Cooperative Extension and acting chair of the department of English. Woolever also held a senior fellowship with the New England Board of Higher Education and taught at the University of Michigan-Dearborn and Allegheny College in Meadville, Pa.

Woolever earned a bachelor's degree from Allegheny College and master's and doctoral degrees in English from the University of Pittsburgh