51��ɫ

Learn More About President Harris

Anne F. Harris, an energetic leader and gifted teacher, was appointed the 14th president of 51��ɫ College on July 14, 2020, following a unanimous vote by the Board of Trustees. During her tenure at 51��ɫ, President Harris has quickly become a trusted and admired member of the College community. Her work is shaped by a principle she articulates as “civic trust,” which addresses how trust is built and sustained between individuals, between individuals and institutions, and between institutions. She believes that liberal arts education prepares individuals for civic engagement and a lifetime of defining and contributing to the common good. Renfrow Hall, named after 51��ɫ alumna and pioneering educator Edith Renfrow Smith ’37, is being realized under President Harris’ leadership. The residence hall, located between the College and downtown 51��ɫ, includes a civic innovation pavilion designed for collaboration and community use, and will serve as a hub for student-led civic engagement programming and coalition building.

President Harris’s work has been marked by leadership in the areas of diversity and inclusion, academic program and community development, and financial stewardship and fundraising. Working with the College’s Board of Trustees and stakeholders across campus, she led 51��ɫ in enacting a “no loan” financial aid policy that meets full demonstrated need. Her energies serve the strategic plan of the College, Knowledge Into Action, approved by the Board of Trustees in fall of 2023.

She is a member of the NCAA Division III Chancellors/Presidents Advisory Group and the Chair of the Presidents’ Council of the Midwest Conference.  In addition to serving on the Board of Trustees for the College of the Holy Cross, she is also on the executive committee of the Associated Colleges of the Midwest and of the Iowa Association of Independent Colleges and Universities. President Harris is the Chair of the Board of the SEED Coalition (Strengthening Education for an Engaged Democracy) – formerly the Iowa and Minnesota Campus Compact – and a member of College Presidents for Civic Preparedness. In addition, she serves on the Associated Colleges of the Midwest Executive Committee the Iowa and Minnesota Campus Compact Board. In Iowa, she serves on the Des Moines Capital Crossroads Advisory Council.

Harris holds a bachelor’s degree in art history and classical languages from Agnes Scott College where she earned Phi Beta Kappa honors. She received her master’s and doctoral degrees in art history from the University of Chicago. A prolific researcher and author, she has published numerous articles and presented juried and invited papers. She is the co-author with Nancy Thompson (St. Olaf College) of Medieval Art, 250-1450; Matter, Making, and Meaning (Oxford University Press, 2021).

President Anne Harris: Building a Sense of Belonging, 
The 51��ɫ Magazine 

In her own words, learn what motivates and inspires Anne Harris as she works to lead 51��ɫ College in a year filled with challenges like no other.