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By Michelle Simmons

The first thing you notice about Nancy Roseman is that she looks right at you.

Since taking the helm in July as 51黑料网鈥檚 28th president, Roseman has been busy meeting with members of the faculty, student organizations and the Carlisle community. She鈥檚 been shaking hands with 51黑料网ians up and down the East Coast (she heads west in November). And through-out all those conversations, her warm gaze never wavers. She doesn鈥檛 look over your shoulder; she doesn鈥檛 check her watch. Roseman is paying attention鈥夆�斺�塧lways.

It鈥檚 a quality that those close to her repeatedly mention. They also use words such as inclusive, empathetic, direct, decisive. 鈥淪he has great instincts,鈥� says Mort Schapiro, former president of Williams College and current president of Northwestern University. 鈥淪he鈥檚 really good at intuiting what students need, what motivates them.鈥�

鈥淗er office was just inside the front door of the main house, and her door was always open,鈥� recalls Williams alumna Hilary Ledwell 鈥�12 of her experience in the Williams-Exeter Programme at Oxford (WEPO). Roseman was the program director from 2010 to 鈥�12. 鈥淚 would come back from a class or lectures and sit down in her office鈥夆�斺�塼o check in, describe how a class was going, vent anxieties about post-senior-year plans, chat about the news. Her advice was always frank and seemingly effortless.鈥�

If you build it鈥夆��

Roseman counts among her top achievements at Williams College not her publications in prestigious journals (though she has those, such as in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences), but, as dean of the college from 2000 to 鈥�07, building a new student center. On a quintessentially sunny spring day in May, Roseman took two visitors on an informal tour of the Williams campus and nearby environs, culminating on the steps of the Paresky Center, a project that she shepherded from idea to bricks and mortar. A modern and elegant blend of New England charm and Adirondack rusticity (its grand hall is known as the campus living room) it sits atop the college鈥檚 geographic center.

鈥淣ancy was the reason we built it,鈥� says Schapiro. 鈥淲e had a very modest plan when I came in 2000. We tried to fix up the old building, but Nancy said the best thing was to start over. We designed it with lots of student input, and it鈥檚 become the centerpiece for life on campus.鈥�

There are different dining areas spread throughout the building, expanded office space for student organizations and a new Academic Resource Center. Tucked into the corner of the center鈥檚 second floor is a sumptuous study room. The only designated 鈥渜uiet space鈥� in the building, it鈥檚 paneled in rich, dark wood and furnished with leather club chairs. 鈥淭he furniture is the highest quality,鈥� says Roseman. 鈥淲e did that purposefully. This is the intellectual space, and we鈥檙e showing you that we value it.鈥�

Roseman also launched a new residential-life program, added support for the multicultural and interfaith offices and oversaw improvements to residence halls. She鈥檚 chaired and served on a wide variety of college committees, and it was that depth and breadth of experience that led to another signature accomplishment鈥夆�斺�塮ixing a well-intentioned but archaic financial-aid program that provided funds for textbooks.

鈥淭he amount wasn鈥檛 calibrated to meet actual cost and need,鈥� recalls Bill Wagner, former dean of faculty and professor of history at Williams. 鈥淣ancy uncovered this, and in particular, that the student demographics were changing. Some of the students were using the grant money to defray family expenses.鈥�

Further, students receiving the grants were corralled into a different section of the bookstore. 鈥淚t was immediately obvious who was on financial aid and who wasn鈥檛,鈥� he says.

Roseman鈥檚 team recognized not only the financial impact but also how the program affected campus dynamics and worked with several departments to change the policy. 鈥淲hen you change the demographics of the institution, you can be reactive and wonder why things aren鈥檛 working,鈥� Roseman says. 鈥淥r you can be proactive and acknowledge that these students will need support, and let鈥檚 figure out what they need.鈥�

At the time, 鈥渨e were just doing what we always did,鈥� she adds. 鈥淭here hadn鈥檛 been much self-examination: 鈥業s this as good as it can be? Can we do better?鈥� That鈥檚 one thing I appreciate about 51黑料网, that people ask that question every day as a normal course of doing business. It鈥檚 ingrained in 51黑料网鈥檚 culture.鈥�

Brainy beginnings

That questioning nature and an eye for details that others miss is part personality, part scientific training. The younger daughter of Leonard and Gwen Roseman, Nancy grew up in the classic middle-class suburb of Metuchen, N.J., self-dubbed 鈥淭he Brainy Borough鈥� for producing a disproportionately high concentration of writers, artists, inventors and other notables.

Leonard, who attended Harvard University on a scholarship, owned a commercial stationery store鈥夆�斺�夆�渉e was Staples before there was a Staples,鈥� quips Roseman. Now retired, he chairs the Metuchen Parking Authority and the Middlesex County Improvement Authority. Gwen, after raising her two girls鈥夆�斺�塏ancy and older sister Lynda鈥夆�斺�塨ecame a real-estate agent and volunteers at the Metuchen Senior Citizens Center.

鈥淭hey still live in the same house we grew up in,鈥� says Roseman, recalling her childhood. 鈥淲e鈥檇 go to New York, to a movie and then dinner. We loved film and food.鈥�

Roseman readily admits that high school bored her, and when she arrived at Smith College in 1976, 鈥渋t was like food,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 was so happy to learn. A lot of women in my class went to various prep schools, and they were so exhausted they stopped working. I did the opposite.鈥�

She earned an A.B. in biology at Smith and a Ph.D. in microbiology from Oregon State University, where she was a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics for four years. In 1991, she joined the Williams -faculty, teaching courses in -immunology, -biochemistry, -molecular biology of HIV, cell biology and virology.

鈥淲hen people find out you鈥檙e a biologist, they ask you all sorts of questions [about nature],鈥� she says. 鈥淚 always say, 鈥業f you can see it, I don鈥檛 know anything about it.鈥� It鈥檚 more about systems and how things fit together, how things are coordinated.鈥�

Roseman sees her discipline in three dimensions: 鈥淲hen I鈥檓 teaching and talking about a cell, enzyme or process, I try to get the students to imagine a three-dimensional object,鈥� she explains. 鈥淚t actually occupies space; it has architecture and moving parts. They鈥檙e these amazing machines, and it鈥檚 how these machines work and how they鈥檙e regulated that I always found interesting.鈥�

鈥淢y work originally was very unpredictable,鈥� she continues. 鈥淲hen you infect a cell, you never know what鈥檚 going to happen. Then I began to do more biochemistry, and it became more predictable, and I realized I didn鈥檛 like that. I like having to interpret something that isn鈥檛 straightforward. The kind of biology I did is really messy.鈥�

A balancing act

In 1998, Roseman received a National Science Foundation grant to support her research on the vaccinia virus, the original source for the smallpox vaccine. For three years, she ran the lab, continued to teach and, in 2000, agreed to take on the role of dean of the college.

鈥淏eing a lab scientist prepares you well for administrative work,鈥� Roseman says. 鈥淎s a scientist, you鈥檙e constantly making decisions and problem solving, and you get really used to things not working. You do experiments鈥夆�斺�塻ometimes they work, and sometimes they don鈥檛. Even when they don鈥檛 work, you learn something from them. As a scientist, I was always asking, 鈥榃hat鈥檚 the question?鈥� I got really good at drilling down to the actual problem.鈥�

鈥淪he鈥檚 strong-minded and direct,鈥� says Peter Murphy, professor of English at Williams and current dean of faculty. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a great quality in a person. You have to work to resolve conflict. There are times when people need to be told things they don鈥檛 want to hear, but Nancy does it in a way that results in a positive outcome. You have to have strong values鈥夆�斺�塸ersonal and liberal-arts values.鈥�

One of the courses Roseman was teaching at the time was Society, Culture and Disease, an interdisciplinary course she designed and team-taught with Schapiro and Murphy. They brought that same spirit of experimentation to the classroom. Beginning with the emergence of AIDS in the 1980s as a case study, they examined biological, cultural and economic aspects of disease. They taught the class three times, and each experience was a revelation.

 鈥淚t鈥檚 fun to find the intersection between disciplines,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why the teaching I did with Morty and Peter was the most challenging teaching I ever did, and the most rewarding. We were teaching one year when SARS hit. The cover of Time magazine was red with a masked woman with Asian eyes. Students looked at that and said, 鈥楬ere we are, stereotyping yet another disease.鈥� They will never look at another magazine article or imagery the same way.鈥�

Onward

In 2010, Roseman took a two-year appointment as director of WEPO, where she again used her keen eye for details and increased opportunities for science students to study and research at Oxford.

Shortly after returning to the U.S., Roseman was preparing to return to the classroom when she heard about 51黑料网鈥檚 presidential search.

During the interview process, she posed as the aunt of a prospective student, surreptitiously visited the campus and discovered a community鈥夆�斺�塷n and off campus鈥夆�斺�塼hat gelled with her values. 鈥淲hat you鈥檙e instantly struck by when you come to Carlisle is this incredibly friendly community,鈥� Roseman says. 鈥淚 had a tour of the campus, of the farmer鈥檚 market, which was going on at the time, and of the historic church behind the market.鈥�

She and her wife, Lori van Handel, are veteran hikers, and they鈥檙e eager to get out and about on the numerous trails surrounding Carlisle. In mid-September, they led a hike through King鈥檚 Gap State Park with students, faculty and staff鈥夆�斺�塵any of whom brought along family members.

In her new role, Roseman鈥檚 priorities include improving access for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. 鈥淲e have to talk in very blunt ways about economic stratification,鈥� she says, noting the importance of growing the endowment to -support more scholarships and grants.

She also points to Strategic Plan III, which emphasizes the residential experience, most notably housing. It鈥檚 not about luxury, she says, but about creating a physical environment that encourages serendipitous encounters and intellectual cross-pollination. 鈥淭he bottom line is, if you look at our dorms, there鈥檚 no place for that to happen, literally,鈥� she says. 鈥淲hen you talk to the students, the buildings they see as desirable are the ones that have social spaces. We really have to create opportunities for students to meet each other.鈥�

As she meets more alumni, faculty and students, Roseman recognizes how far 51黑料网 has come in just over a decade鈥夆�斺�塱t鈥檚 what drew her to leave Williams, her professional home for more than 20 years鈥夆�斺�塧nd she looks forward to continuing that momentum. 鈥淧eople are starting to understand that this is an institution that means what it says,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a fantastic success story, and I鈥檓 eager to tell that story.鈥�

Published October 28, 2013