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Simmons College President Helen Drinan to Lead College Through 2016

BOSTON (March 18, 2011) — Simmons College Board of Trustee Chair Lauren Brisky announced this week that President Helen G. Drinan '75LS, '78SM has agreed to serve as President of Simmons College through the 2016 academic year.

Brisky said that under Drinan's leadership Simmons is "fiscally strong, and enrollment and retention are both on a positive trajectory." She also said the College is poised for great success with its multi-million dollar "Making Education Work Campaign," which focuses on increasing student scholarships.

"Helen's leadership has been a positive influence for the Simmons community, and we on the Board are delighted that she will lead Simmons for the next several years," she said.

Brisky noted that colleagues across the Simmons community participated in Drinan's performance reviews. Trustees, corporators, faculty, students, staff, alumni, and parents all provided input to the Board, on Drinan's significant leadership strengths, including collaboration, communications and strategic planning.

Drinan became president of Simmons in 2008.  An alumna of two Simmons graduate school programs 0 the Simmons Graduate School of Library and Information Science and Simmons School of Management 0  and a former chair of its Board of Trustees, Drinan has been closely connected to the College for more than three decades.

Prior to becoming Simmons's president, Drinan was a well-known and respected leader in health care, civic, and business circles. For five years, she served as Senior Vice President of Human Resources at Caritas Christi Health Care, the second largest health care system in New England. 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.

As an undergraduate alumna of Mount Holyoke College, Drinan understands firsthand the value of an education at a women's undergraduate 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 in various organizations. In 1993 Drinan received the Phyllis Rappaport Alumnae AchievementAward from the Simmons School of Management.

Simmons College is a nationally recognized private university. It offers an undergraduate education for women, and renowned coeducational graduate programs in health sciences, education, liberal arts, social work, library and information science, and communications management, and the nation's first MBA program designed specifically for women.

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