President of Connecticut College
As the middle child of five, Katherine described herself as the mediator and the leader growing up which she believes played a role in her position today as President of Connecticut College. With a Masters and a Doctoral in Music History, she has a unique perspective on the influence that music plays in all aspects of life.
To hear the full Women to Watch™ Media interview with Katherine, listen below.
Full Biography
Katherine Bergeron is the 11th President of Connecticut College in New London, Connecticut. Selected by the College’s Board of Trustees in August 2013, she took office on January 1, 2014.
Katherine Bergeron was born in New London, Connecticut in 1958. She earned a bachelor of arts degree in music from Wesleyan University and master and doctoral degrees in music from Cornell University. Katherine is married to Joseph Butch Rovan, a composer and multimedia artist who is professor of music at Brown University and director of the Brown Arts Initiative
As a musician and a historian, Bergeron’s scholarship has focused on French music and culture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She is a two-time recipient of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publisher’ Deems-Taylor Award for her books Decadent Enchantments (University of California Press, 1998) and Voice Lessons (Oxford University Press, 2010). Voice Lessons also received the Otto Kinkeldey Award from the American Musicological Society.
Bergeron has held professorships at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Tufts University, University of California at Berkeley, and at Brown University, where she also served as dean of the college from 2006 to 2013.
On August 20, 2013, the Connecticut College Board of Trustees elected Katherine Bergeron as the 11th president of Connecticut College. Upon announcing her presidency, the chair of the board of trustees stated, “She has a tremendous ability to connect ideas and convert them into action. She is a champion of the tradition of education in the liberal arts and sciences, and, at the same time, an experienced and effective administrator with a record of successful innovation.” Bergeron commented, “The notions of modern education and broad access to education are written in the DNA of Connecticut College. This tradition is so important at a time when all institutions of higher education are being asked to create new models for learning and to find new ways to expand access.” Bergeron took office on January 1, 2014.
Since the first year of her presidency, Bergeron has supported the development of a new curriculum at Connecticut College, the first major transformation in 40 years. This venture in integrative education, called Connections, requires all students to make deeper linkages between the work they do in courses, in jobs, and in their lives on campus and in the world, in order to prepare them for leadership in an era of changes: liberal arts for the interconnected world.
During Bergeron’s tenure, Connecticut College received the largest gift in its history to support financial aid, career education, and athletics.The College also completed a $10 million renovation of the Charles E. Shain Library that transformed the mid-century facility into a vibrant, modern space for teaching and learning. The library has received several design awards for architectural excellence and historic renovation.
In 2015, Bergeron led a yearlong effort that culminated in a new strategic plan that will move Connecticut College forward into its second distinguished century along with the launch of a new curriculum called Connections which is Connecticut College’s reinvention of liberal arts education that integrate students interests into a meaningful educational pathway and carries them through college and into a fulfilling, effective career and life. Connections requires all students to make deeper linkages between the work they do in courses, in jobs, and in the world, in order to prepare them for leadership in an era of change…it’s liberal arts for the interconnected world.
For more information regarding Katherine, check out the links below.
