Rebecca S. Chopp was named president of Colgate University on July 1, 2002. Colgate’s fifteenth president, she joined the college from Yale Divinity School, where she served as dean.

Prior to joining the Yale Divinity School, Chopp spent 15 years at Emory University where she held the positions of provost and executive vice president for academic affairs. She established herself as a well-known scholar of religion and American culture. Chopp also served as director of graduate studies for the Institute of Women’s Studies, dean of faculty and academic affairs at the Candler School and Charles Howard Candler Professor of Theology.

While at Emory University, Chopp oversaw two colleges of liberal arts and seven professional schools and led strategic planning in areas such as teaching and research, international affairs, university/community relations, and information technology. More than 20 vice presidents, deans and vice provosts reported to Chopp, who established three priorities for their work together: strengthening the schools and establishing cross-disciplinary programs, identifying new intellectual initiatives, and identifying and supporting colleagues with leadership potential.

Chopp received her B.A. from Kansas Wesleyan University, her M.Div. from St. Paul School of Theology and her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago Divinity School. In recent years her research and publication has focused on changing structures and cultures of higher education, on the role of liberal arts in democratic society and on supporting faculty in teaching and research. Chopp has written numerous books and articles in the areas of women’s studies, Christian theology and the role of religion in American public life.

Chopp has received the Alumna of the Year award from the University of Chicago Divinity School, an honorary doctorate in divinity from Lehigh University, the Alumni Achievement Award from Kansas Wesleyan University, the Distinguished Alumna Award from Saint Paul School of Theology and the Founder’s Day Award from Baker University.

Chopp has been editor of The Quarterly Review, Religious Studies Review, and The Christian Century, and has been a member of the editorial boards of six other journals of religious and theological studies. She was president of the American Academy of Religion and chair of Women in Leadership in Theological Education of the Association of Theological Schools. Among her many memberships in community and professional groups and associations, she is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Carnegie Foundation and has served on the Council of Information and Library Resources.

Chopp is married to Frederick H. Thibodeau. They have three sons.