Oberlin College Appoints 15th President In Its 184 Year History

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Carmen Twillie Ambar has been named the 15th president of Oberlin College. She will transition to Oberlin this summer and be on campus full time beginning in September. . . .

Ambar has served as the 13th president of Cedar Crest College since 2008, following a highly successful tenure as vice president and dean of Douglass College at Rutgers University, where she was the youngest dean in the University’s history. Cedar Crest has thrived under her leadership. Three straight years with budget surpluses and a 35 percent growth in net assets have allowed the college to make significant investments in the campus without borrowing, and the college’s endowment has increased by almost 92 percent. Ambar has presided over the launch of 18 new academic programs and, during her tenure, Cedar Crest has seen enrollment growth in six of the last seven years and this fall will welcome its largest freshman class since 2007. . . . 

At Cedar Crest, she led initiatives to expand the access of high-impact practices for all students including: “The Sophomore Expedition,” a shared short-term study abroad experience funded almost entirely by the college for all sophomores beginning spring 2018; campus vibrancy initiatives and a robust First-Year-Experience that have increased retention by 11 percent; the 4-Year Guarantee, which provides a clear path to graduation; dual degrees, to help students get their master’s faster; and living learning communities. Under her leadership, the diversity of the student body increased from 16 percent in fall 2008 to 37 percent in fall 2016, with the highest increases in Hispanic and African American populations. . . . 

Ambar serves on several boards including the Colonial States Athletic Conference, for which she is Chair; the Women’s College Coalition; and the Pennsylvania Campus Compact board. In 2014, she was honored by the governor’s office as a Distinguished Daughter of Pennsylvania. Additionally, she has earned several awards for her support of women including the 2012 Girls Scouts “Take the Lead” Award, the 2011 American Association of University Women (AAUW) Gateway to Equity Award from the organization’s Allentown Branch, and the 2010 Athena Award from the Women’s Business Council (WBC) of the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce.

Prior to her time at Rutgers, Ambar served as assistant dean of graduate education at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. As an attorney, she previously worked in the New York City Law Department as an assistant corporation counsel. 

Ambar earned her juris doctorate at Columbia Law School, her master’s in public affairs at Princeton University, and her B.S. in Foreign Service at Georgetown University. She is married to Saladin Malik Ambar, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Department of Political Science and Senior Scholar at the Center on the American Governor at the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University. A native of Little Rock, Arkansas, Ambar has ten-year-old triplets, Gabrielle, Luke, and Daniel.

From here.