Presenter Details

Ph.D.'87

Carolyn J. Stefanco, Ph.D., is a global higher education leader and women's leadership expert who held positions in both public and private institutions of higher education as tenured full professor, department chair, dean, vice president for academic affairs, and president. She also served as resident director of a London Study Program; Senior Fulbright Scholar at the University of Zagreb, Croatia; higher education consultant for Saudi Arabia and South Africa; and trustee and board chair at the American University in Bulgaria. Stefanco has extensive experience as a board member and is currently on the board of directors of the Albany (New York) Med Health System, the International Leadership Association, and Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta. She is also the founding chair of the Presidential Ambassadors Council for the Association of International Education Administrators. In recognition of her decades of achievement, she received a Helen Gurley Brown Foundation Genius Award. Stefanco earned a B.A. in history from the University of Colorado at Boulder, an M.A. in women's history from Binghamton University, and Ph.D. in history from Duke University. Following her presidency, she founded Barét Leadership Consulting, where she provides executive coaching to accomplished professionals who seek greater clarity about current challenges and opportunities, higher levels of achievement, and advancement into more senior roles. Clients hold leadership positions in healthcare, such as Mount Sinai Health System and Beth Israel Lahey Health, and at colleges and universities, ranging from Arizona State University and Pennsylvania State University to Smith College and William and Mary College. Stefanco also supports clients with fundraising and board development.