2010 14th President Rebecca Chopp

Rebecca Chopp served as the 14th and first female president of Swarthmore College. As president, she promoted the "signatures" of the College—academic rigor and creativity and intentional, residential community—in order to affirm and amplify the College's tradition as a progressive leader in liberal arts education in the nation and the world. She also upheld the College's longstanding commitment to admitting the most highly qualified students without regard for their financial circumstances.

In addition to weathering the global recession of 2009 without reducing faculty, staff, or financial aid, Chopp also oversaw Swarthmore's first strategic planning process. The establishment of the Frank Aydelotte Foundation for the Advancement of the Liberal Arts is one tangible expression of the resulting plan; another is the creation of the College's first campus master plan. 

Chopp is a well-known scholar of progressive religious movements in American culture and has also focused her research on changing structures and cultures of higher education and the role of liberal arts in a democratic society. She is the author or editor of six books, including Remaking College: Innovation and the Liberal Arts (2013).