Janet L Holmgren

On the frontlines of higher education for more than 35 years, Janet L. Holmgren was appointed President of Patten University (Oakland, CA) in 2012. She served as President and Susan Mills Professor of Mills College (Oakland, CA) from 1991 to 2011, and continues at Mills as a senior tenured professor of English. Prior to her appointment at Mills, she served as Vice Provost of Princeton University, Senior Administrator at the University of Maryland, College Park, and full-time faculty member at the University of Maryland and the University of the District of Columbia in linguistics and English.

Holmgren has been deeply involved in national and local leadership through her volunteer work with numerous educational and nonprofit organizations, including the International Museum of Women, the City of Oakland Education Cabinet, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, the Princeton University Board of Trustees, and the Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities.

Holmgren has also served as chair of the Boards of the American Council on Education, the National Council for Research on Women, the Executive Committee of the Women’s College Coalition, and the California Governance Task Force for the Revision of the Master Plan for Pre-K through 16 Education. She co-founded the Oakland Education Cabinet in 1997 with then Oakland Mayor Elihu Harris, and re-established this working group of leaders with current Mayor Jean Quan and School Superintendent Tony Smith.

During her 20-year tenure as President of Mills College, Holmgren successfully spearheaded major diversity initiatives, increased the endowment from $70 to $230 million, and established Mills’ first doctoral degree program in urban educational leadership, and the Lorry I. Lokey Graduate School of Business. She also led over $100 million of campus renovations and improvements, and created significant outreach to the Oakland/Bay Area and California community in areas ranging from early childhood through 12th grade education to business development.

Holmgren has honorary degrees from Mills College, Golden Gate University (1995), and Mount Vernon College (1992), and has received national recognition for her leadership, including: the Smart Woman Award, Girls, Inc. of the Bay Area (2010); CEO of the Year, CASE Western Region for the Advancement of Higher Education (2007); Award for Excellence in Education, California National Organization for Women (2002); and the Donna Shavlik Leadership Award for Lifetime Service, Office of Women in Higher Education, American Council on Education (2001).

She has written and presented speeches throughout the country on topics such as women’s leadership, Federal funding and financial aid, the U.N./NGO Forum and Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, urban school reform, Supreme Court nominations, women in science, and making colleges more diverse and woman-friendly.

She is also the co-author of The Story of English: Study Guide and Reader, with Spencer Cosmos (Kendall-Hunt), and Narration and Discourse in American Realistic Fiction (University of Pennsylvania Press), and numerous scholarly articles.

Holmgren holds MA and PhD degrees from Princeton University.