WPI Selects Materials Scientist as New Prez

Grace Wang

Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) selected materials scientist “Grace” Jinliu Wang as its 17^th president, effective April 3, 2023. She succeeds Laurie Leshin, who served as WPI president for eight years before joining NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory as director in May. WPI Provost Winston “Wole” Soboyejo has served as interim president since Leshin’s departure. Wang, the holder of seven U.S. patents, began her career at IBM/Hitachi Global Storage Technologies, focusing on research and development of thin-film magnetic recording media and carbon overcoat for data storage. She then pursued careers at the National Science Foundation followed by the State University of New York (SUNY) System and the Ohio State University, where she was the inaugural executive vice president for research, innovation and knowledge.

Northern Essex Community College hired Marjorie Campbell as the Tomfohrde Executive Director of Health Care Pathways to lead a one-year, grant-funded program providing healthcare employers with a talented and trained workforce pool while offering opportunities for their employees to continue their education and training. A registered nurse, Campbell recently oversaw the regulation of physicians and nurses for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

The Boston Lawyers Group—which supports efforts to identify, recruit, advance and retain attorneys of color—named Tracey West as its new executive director, succeeding Carolyn Golden Hebsgaard, who led the group for nearly 30 years. A former director of diversity, equity & inclusion at WilmerHale, West spent nearly 20 years at Boston College Law School, most recently as associate dean of external relations, diversity & inclusion.

Burlington, Vt. Mayor Miro Weinberger chose Kimberly Carson, who recently was the Iowa Judicial Branch’s director of education and human capital development, to serve as the Vermont city’s next director for the Office of Racial Equity, Inclusion & Belonging. A former track and field coach for the U.S. Olympic team, Carson would fill a post that has been open since the department’s first director, Tyeastia Green, resigned in March.