Completing the Circle

In returning to their alma mater to teach, the alumnae photographed here are, as Provost Linda Bell explains, continuing Barnard’s mission “to inspire young women to be leaders in their fields.” The College is where these educators, who make up about six percent of Barnard’s full-time faculty and 10 percent of Barnard’s women faculty, first developed a passion for a particular subject, be it astrophysics, comparative literature, biology, or dance—to name just a few of the diverse subjects in which Barnard’s faculty are experts. Having returned to the institution of higher learning where they laid the groundwork for their scholarship, they bring with them “a passion for the institution and for its ability to transform,” says Bell. “It’s really a tribute to the College that so many alumnae have a great affinity for their experience, for Barnard and its mission, and for what it means to be a liberal arts college in New York City.”