Chawne Kimber Named Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of Faculty at Pitzer College Kimber, dean of the College and professor of mathematics at Washington and Lee University, will begin her new role July 1, 2025.
Chawne Kimber, dean of the College and professor of mathematics at Washington and Lee University, has been named vice president for academic affairs and dean of faculty at Pitzer College in Claremont, California. She will begin her new role on July 1, 2025.
W&L Provost Lena Hill said that Kimber will remain in her current position through the current academic year. Plans for hiring her replacement will be announced next week.
“Chawne has accomplished a great deal as dean of the College,” said Hill. “She combined her impressive administrative sensibility with her dedication to mentoring faculty and staff to implement important processes throughout the College as she simultaneously recruited, hired, and supported exceptional faculty. She will be a terrific vice president of academic affairs and dean of faculty, and Pitzer College is fortunate to have her. I thank Chawne for her service to W&L, and I congratulate President Thacker and the Pitzer faculty on an excellent choice.”
As dean of the College, Kimber is responsible for 21 departments and 13 interdisciplinary programs. She chairs the Committee on Courses and Degrees and serves on the Faculty Executive Committee, as well as the Provost’s Academic Council and the President’s Council. In her four years at W&L, she has hired dozens of faculty, managed numerous external reviews of academic departments and programs, celebrated faculty teaching and scholarship through the appointment of chaired professorships, strengthened alumni connections and engagement through the science and Shepherd Program advisory boards, led a successful search for the director of the Lenfest Center for the Arts, and supported the launch of Austin Term, a new Spring Term course focused on connecting humanities and art students to W&L alumni working across various industries including the arts, technology, start-ups, communications, and fashion.
Prior to joining Washington and Lee, Kimber was professor and head of the Mathematics Department at Lafayette College, where she co-founded the Summer Program to Advance Leadership in STEM, an initiative supporting students from underrepresented backgrounds in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Her scholarship focuses on ordered algebraic structures, commutative algebra, general topology, category theory and textile art. She is the co-author of numerous peer-reviewed articles in journals, including Algebra Universalis, Order, Fundamenta Mathematicae, and the Journal of Pure and Applied Algebra, and she has served as organizer and presenter at a variety of national conferences, seminars and colloquia.
In her new role at Pitzer, Kimber will serve as the chief academic officer and a member of the senior leadership team, advising the president on all academic matters.
“We are grateful to Chawne for her contributions to Washington and Lee over the past four years,” said W&L President William C. Dudley. “She has brought a passion for the liberal arts to all of her work with our faculty, staff and students. Chawne will be a great asset to Pitzer College, and we wish her all the best in her new role.”
“W&L is a very special place that has had a great impact on my values and administrative experience,” said Kimber. “It has been a distinct honor to work with my team in Simpson House, deeply dedicated department and programs heads, tirelessly innovative faculty, and dear and devoted staff all across campus. No matter the headwinds, W&L faces adversity with aplomb and grace, and I am proud to have been a member of this community.”
More information about Kimber’s appointment is available on the Pitzer College website.
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