Biography of President Herzberger

Sharon D. Herzberger was appointed Whittier College’s 14th president in February of 2005 and formally began her term of office on July 1, 2005. Her career in academe spans 30 years and is marked by a variety of successive leadership roles and professional achievement, affording her experience in virtually every conceivable aspect of campus life and administration.

After teaching posts at both Northwestern University and Schiller College in Madrid, Herzberger began her longtime association with Trinity College in 1980, when she joined the faculty of the psychology department, eventually serving as department chair. Over the course of the next two decades, Herzberger also took on a variety of challenging administrative positions, including special assistant to the president for affirmative action, associate vice president for the college’s campaign, and vice president for student services.

She was appointed to her final Trinity office—vice president for institutional planning and administration—in September 2004, and served in that position until moving to Whittier College to assume the presidency.

In 2000 Herzberger founded the Consortium on High Achievement and Success (CHAS), a group of 36 highly selective, private liberal arts colleges and universities that have pledged to collaborate in creating a healthy environment on member campuses where students of all backgrounds may reach their highest potential as scholars and leaders. She then served as chair of the CHAS steering board until 2005.

In addition to publishing numerous research articles, Herzberger has co-authored manuscripts in her two principal areas of academic research: affirmative action (Affirmative Action: The Pros and Cons of Policy and Practice) and domestic violence (Violence within the Family: Social Psychological Perspectives). She holds a bachelor’s degree from Pennsylvania State University and her master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Illinois.