The board of trustees of Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon, has named Robin Holmes-Sullivan as the institution’s 26th president. When she becomes president in July, she will be the first African American and the first woman to lead the college in its 155-year history.
“I am so proud that my becoming president of Lewis & Clark can influence and inspire a generation of young people to see that they can dream big; that when they speak, people will listen; and that when they lead, people will follow,” Dr. Holmes-Sullivan said.
Lewis & Clark College enrolls about 1,800 undergraduate students and more than 1,300 graduate students. African Americans make up just 2 percent of the undergraduate student body.
Dr. Homes-Sullivan is currently the vice president for student life and dean of students at the college. She came to Lewis & Clark in 2019 from the University of California, where she served as vice president for student affairs overseeing the undergraduate admissions process and other student-related issues for the 10-campus, 200,000-student system. Prior to her time at the University of California, Holmes-Sullivan spent 27 years at the University of Oregon, working her way up from a position as a clinical coordinator in the counseling center to vice president of student life.
Dr. Holmes-Sullivan earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in experimental psychology from California State University at Fullerton. She holds a second master’s degree and a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the California School of Professional.
