To: The Wellesley College Community
From: President Paula A. Johnson
Re: Announcing Wellesley’s New Provost and Dean of the College
Date: February 5, 2024
I am pleased to announce that Courtney C. Coile, the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Economics at Wellesley, will be the next provost and Lia Gelin Poorvu ’56 Dean of the College. Her term will begin July 1, 2024.
Courtney is a distinguished teacher and an internationally recognized scholar on the economics of aging and health, with a particular focus on retirement and disability. She brings a global and interdisciplinary approach to her work, including in her roles at the National Bureau of Economic Research as co-director of both the Retirement and Disability Research Center and the International Social Security Project.
Courtney’s work is widely published in academic journals, and she has co-authored three volumes, including one forthcoming, in the Social Security Programs and Retirement Around the World series (University of Chicago Press). She is a member of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Committee on Population. Her work has been featured in media outlets including the New York Times, the Economist, and the Wall Street Journal.
Courtney holds an A.B. in economics from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in economics from MIT. She came to Wellesley as an assistant professor of economics in 2000 and rose to professor in 2014, and during her more than 23 years here she has earned an impressive reputation as an advisor and mentor to young women in the field of economics.
Courtney is a true citizen of the College with a tremendous record of service. She currently chairs the Department of Economics—a position she has held since 2021—and the Committee on Admission and Financial Aid. She has served as chair of the Agenda Committee and as a member of the Committee on Faculty Appointments, the Advisory Committee on Merit, the Budget Advisory Committee, the Committee on Curriculum and Academic Policy, and the Re-accreditation Steering Committee. She was also the inaugural director of the Knapp Social Science Center.
Her service and leadership roles have given Courtney a deep understanding of the many aspects of our academic program and the College more broadly. She has had the opportunity to work with and learn from faculty and staff from across the College, and they appreciate her ability to listen, collaborate, and lead.
In her new role, Courtney will be the chief academic officer and second officer of the College, leading an expansive range of operations within the Office of the Provost and across the College. She will have overall responsibility for all aspects of academic life and will manage a wide range of academic-adjacent and non-academic departments and programs. She will work closely with the president, members of Senior Leadership, and the faculty, and will have high visibility with trustees and alumnae, to advance the priorities of the College.
Guided by the goals and aspirations outlined in the College’s strategic plan, Courtney will inspire the faculty and administrative staff to work together to provide an exceptional and transformative liberal arts education for women in the 21st century. She will also share responsibility for developing and implementing a bold vision for Wellesley in the world through the work of the Wagner Centers.
I selected Courtney from among a list of candidates developed by the Faculty Provost Search Advisory Committee, which had solicited nominations from other faculty. I want to thank Casey Rothschild, Norma Wilentz Hess Professor of Economics, who chaired the committee, for his leadership, as well as members of the committee for their dedication to this process. They include: Anne Brubaker, senior lecturer in the Writing Program; Kellie Carter Jackson, Michael and Denise Kellen ’68 Associate Professor of Africana Studies; Alex Diesl, professor of mathematics; Carol Dougherty, professor of classical studies; Claudia Joskowicz, assistant professor of art; Margaret Keane, Denise Kellen ’68 Professor in the Health Sciences and professor of psychology; Yui Suzuki, professor of biological sciences; and Sarah Wall-Randell, professor of English. I also want to thank the members of Senior Leadership who met with the finalists.
Finally, I am grateful to Andy Shennan for his extraordinary commitment to enhancing our academic program during his nearly 25 years of leadership as dean of the College and as our first provost. We look forward to celebrating his outstanding contributions to the College later this spring.
