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August Issue 2005
Betsy Fleming Becomes President of Converse College in Spartanburg, SC
Thomas E. Hannah, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Converse College in Spartanburg, SC, has announced that Betsy Fleming, current director of the Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston, SC, will become the ninth president of Converse College in Oct. 2005. "I am excited to announce that we have found a leader who shares our vision and will continue to drive Converse College forward with energy and focus," said Hannah. "Betsy Fleming will assume her responsibilities as our ninth president in October. She looks forward to joining the Converse community and will be on campus to meet students at the opening of the 2005-06 academic year."
A Spartanburg native and the daughter of Converse alumna Lib Burnett Fleming '65, Betsy Fleming is currently executive director of the Gibbes Museum of Art. While there, she drew new populations through creative marketing initiatives, implemented innovative educational programs, and advanced the museum facilities with tremendous success. Due to Fleming's visionary tactics, the Gibbes Museum was transformed into a vibrant and flourishing organization. She will bring to Converse a compelling vision for single gender education that will help us reach our goals for student recruitment and attain the external recognition this institution so richly deserves.
Prior to her position at the Gibbes Museum, Fleming worked for The Frick Collection in New York, NY and The J. Paul Getty Trust in Los Angeles, CA. She has also served The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Yale University Art Gallery, Victoria & Albert Museum in London, and Harvard University Art Museums. Fleming taught at Parsons School of Design in New York and was a teaching fellow at Yale University. She is one of 20 members selected from 215 nominees statewide to participate in the inaugural class of the Liberty Fellows, which aims to develop outstanding leadership for the state of South Carolina.
Fleming holds a baccalaureate degree from Harvard University, a master of arts in the history of design from Royal College of Art in London, a master of arts and master of philosophy from Yale University, and is expecting to receive her PhD from Yale University this year.
"A nontraditional candidate such as Betsy Fleming brings an exciting opportunity for Converse to build recognition as a leader for women's issues and education," says Hannah, adding. "She understands wholeheartedly the value of education, understands what it is to be excited about learning, and understands that it is fulfilling to take your passion and make it your life. An energetic and dynamic woman who has accomplished much, she embodies the ideals of the Converse woman and is someone we can look to for inspiration."
For further information call Converse College
at 864/596-9018 or at (www.converse.edu).
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