Simmons University, a women’s undergraduate school and co-ed graduate school in Boston, has appointed Dr. Lynn Perry Wooten as its ninth president. She will be the first Black to serve in the role and will succeed Helen G. Drinan, who held the position for the past 12 years.
Wooten has assumed various leadership positions throughout her career, most recently serving as the David J. Nolan Dean and professor of management and organization at Cornell University’s Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management. She is a published scholar whose research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health and published in journals such as the Academy of Management Journal, American Behavioral Scientist, Human Resource Management and Organizational Dynamics.
Dr. Lynn Perry Wooten“I’ve had the opportunity to work with Dr. Wooten and experience firsthand her passion and commitment to higher education,” said Dr. Alison Davis-Blake, president of Bentley University. “She’s a strategic thinker and an excellent communicator. I also can’t think of anyone better to make diversity, equity and inclusion the centerpiece of a campus, and I look forward to collaborating with her here in Massachusetts.”
Wooten holds a bachelor’s degree from North Carolina A&T State University, a master’s in business administration from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University and a doctorate from the University of Michigan.
