The bonds of The Claremont Colleges will become a bit tighter this summer, when consortium alumni take over as presidents of two of the colleges.
Strom C. Thacker ’88.
Reprinted with permission of Pitzer College
Strom C. Thacker ’88, who graduated from Pomona with a degree in international relations, cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, becomes president of Pitzer College on July 1. On the same day, Harriet B. Nembhard CMC ’90 becomes president of Harvey Mudd College.
Thanks to conveniently aligned athletic programs, neither one will have trouble knowing which side to sit on when Pomona-Pitzer plays Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in Sixth Street Rivalry games.
Thacker, who has been dean of the faculty and vice president for academic affairs at Union College in Schenectady, New York, grew up in Northern California and came to Pomona with the help of generous financial aid that included a federal Pell Grant. He went on to earn a Ph.D. in political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and become an advocate for college equity, access and the value of a liberal arts education.
Among Thacker’s duties at Union College, by the way: Managing a budget of approximately $47 million. (Chirp.) Welcome home, President Thacker.