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President and Leadership

About President Helen G. Drinan

Helen DrinanHelen G. Drinan brings a depth of leadership experience in non-profit and for-profit organizations to the presidency of Simmons College. An alumna of two Simmons graduate school programs and a former chair of its Board of Directors, Drinan has been closely connected to the College for more than three decades.

As an undergraduate alumna of Mount Holyoke College, Drinan understands firsthand the value of an all-women's college. Her experience as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Philippines in the early ‘70s also provided her with multicultural experiences that she would later carry over into her diversity work. She received her Master of Library and Information Science from the Simmons Graduate School of Library and Information Science in 1975 and an MBA from the Simmons School of Management in 1978. In 1993, the School of Management named her the recipient of the Phyllis Rappaport Alumnae Achievement Award.

Drinan is a well-known and respected leader in health care, civic, and business circles. For the past five years, she has served as Senior Vice President of Human Resources at Caritas Christi Health Care, the second largest health care system in New England, which is owned by the Archdiocese of Boston. She has been recognized for the strength of character she displayed in her service to Caritas Christi, and for her work in cultivating a culture focused on those the institution serves.

Acknowledged for her thoughtful leadership in employee relations, Drinan established innovative employee listening efforts at Caritas Christi and at BankBoston Corporation, where she served as Executive Vice President of Human Resources from 1993-2000.

During her tenure at BankBoston, Drinan developed programs which achieved national recognition. The Bank's performance-driven executive compensation program was rated number one by Credit Suisse First Boston; its comprehensive work-life strategy was recognized by Working Mother Magazine, and its diversity program won the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce and Ad Club of Boston diversity recognition award.

Drinan served as president of the Society for Human Resource Management, a professional organization with the largest human resource membership in the world, from 2000 to 2002, and has been a member of the Board of Directors of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts since 1995. She has been acknowledged by several human resources organizations for her achievements, including the 2007 John D. Erdlen Five Star Award, the highest award given annually by the Northeast Human Resource Association for outstanding accomplishment in the advancement of the human resources profession. In 2001, she was named a Fellow of the National Academy of Human Resources (NAHR), an organization which recognizes individuals who have distinguished themselves through their leadership in the broad field of Human Resources.

Helen is married to David H. Drinan; they have three grown children and six grandchildren.