Ivey Elected to Lead Mitchell College Board of Trustees

Elizabeth Ivey, who is provost emeritus and professor of mechanical engineering emeritus at the University of Hartford, was recently elected chair of the Board of Trustees of Mitchell College, a private coeducational independent college offering bachelor and associate degrees, based in New London, Conn.

"I am honored to be selected to help lead Mitchell College to even greater success in offering an intimate, caring environment with excellent learning resources and committed faculty so that our students can succeed in a rapidly evolving American and global economy," said Ivey, who was provost at the University of Hartford from 1995 to 2000 and who also served as special assistant to the president at the University of Hartford until her formal retirement in 2003.

Ivey is a pioneer among women in science, holding degrees in physics and mechanical engineering from Simmons College, Harvard, and the University of Massachusetts. She is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and of the Association for Women in Science. Ivey founded and directed one of the nation's earliest dual degree programs in science and humanities, a B.A. in liberal arts and a B.S. in engineering at Smith College. Ivey was the Lois Wolff Kahn chaired professor of physics at Smith before becoming professor of physics at Macalester College, where she served as acting president and provost.

Ivey is widely respected in higher education, having served as a consultant to the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) and as commissioner of the NEASC Commission of Institutions of Higher Education. She has also consulted with numerous corporations and government agencies including United Technologies, the U.S. Departments of Education, Transportation, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

"Betty Ivey is an ideal interdisciplinary leader," said Mary Ellen Jukoski, president of Mitchell College. "I look forward to working with her at a time when students need real mentoring and wide-ranging knowledge to meet the challenges of an increasingly complex society."

Most recently at Mitchell, Ivey has served as the chair of the Committee on Academic and Student Affairs, working to help institute Ability Based Education (ABE), to gain re-accreditation through NEASC, and to hire Mitchell's new vice president for academic and student affairs, Michael Fishbein.