Presbyterian College president Dr. Anita Gustafson will discuss the transformative victories that women have made in higher education during the Women's History Month lecture, "Boisterous and Bold: Women in Higher Education."
The Women’s History Month lecture will be held at 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 6, in Belk Auditorium.
Making history herself as PC’s first female president, Gustafson will elucidate the bold strides female trailblazers have made over the last 250 years that impact women’s rights and higher education. A staunch advocate of women's rights, she will also share the inspiring milestones made by women at colleges and universities across the U.S., including PC itself.
Gustafson became PC’s 20th president last summer after serving as dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Mercer University in Macon, Ga., from 2016-23. She taught history at PC from 1997 until her departure for Mercer in 2016. While at PC, she also served as interim provost from 2010-2012, interim dean of academic programs from 2005-2007, and history department chair from 2000-2004. Gustafson held a number of faculty leadership roles at PC as well, including chair of the Senior Faculty Council and chair of the PC Launch Program for Vocation, Leadership, and Service.
Gustafson’s teaching and scholarly interests include American immigration history, Swedish immigration, and the history of American women.
Gustafson earned her doctorate and master’s degrees in history from Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. She holds a bachelor’s degree with majors in economics and Swedish and a minor in history from North Park University in Chicago.
Gustafson and her husband, Charles, have one son, Karl, who is a graduate student in global sustainability at the University of Helsinki, Finland.
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Inspired by the motto, “While We Live, We Serve,” Presbyterian College celebrates an enduring culture of academic rigor, honor, and service worthy of being “America’s Innovative Service College.”
PC provides students of all faiths, identities, and backgrounds with a transformative education that equips them for impactful careers and empowers them to serve as powerful forces for positive community and world change. PC’s distinctive approach uses innovative service as a tool of self-discovery, an amplifier of problem-solving skills, and a catalyst of curiosity. A PC education offers students a real-life proving ground to practice the grace-driven art and science of changing lives.
PC was founded in 1880 by the Rev. William Plumer Jacobs in the historic city of Clinton in the foothills of South Carolina. The college offers a wide variety of undergraduate majors and has established three graduate programs in occupational therapy, physician assistant, and pharmacy. PC student-athletes — the Blue Hose — participate in 19 sports at the Division I level.
For more information about Presbyterian College, go to www.presby.edu.
