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 Jill Ker Conway was born in Hillston, New South Wales, Australia, graduated from the University of Sydney in 1958, and received her Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1969. In 1962 she married John Conway and moved with him to his native Canada. From 1964 to 1975 she taught at the University of Toronto, where she was also Vice President, before going to Smith College. Since 1985 she has been a visiting scholar and professor in MIT’s Program in Science, Technology, and Society. She serves on the boards of Nike, Merrill Lynch, and Colgate-Palmolive, and as Chairman of Lend Lease Corporation. She lives in Boston.
Photo at right (c) Gabe Cooney
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The acclaimed author of the best-selling The Road from Coorain and True North now gives us the third book in her remarkable continuing memoir—describing the pleasures, the challenges, and the constant surprises (good and bad) of her years as the first woman president of Smith College.
The story opens in 1973 as Conway, unbeknownst to her, is first “looked over” as a prospective candidate by members of the Smith community, and continues as she assesses her passions and possibilities and agrees to the new challenge of heading the college in 1975. The jolt of energy she gets from being surrounded by several thousand young women enables her to take on the difficulties that arise in dealing with the diverse Smith constituencies—from the self-appointed protectors of the great male tradition of humanistic learning to the equally determined young feminists insisting on change. We see Conway juggling the needs and concerns of faculty, students, parents, trustees, and alumnae, and re-defining and redesigning aspects of the college to create programs in line with the new realities of women’s lives. We sense the urgency of her efforts to shape an institution that will attract students of the 1990s and beyond.
Through it all we see Jill Ker Conway coping with her husband’s illness, and learning to protect and sustain her inner self. As the end of a decade at Smith approaches, we see her realizing that she has both had her education and made her contributions, and that it is time now for her to graduate.
"One of the
leading educators of
our time - Jill Ker
Conway - had
described the
challenges and
the benefits of
a first rate
university for women
in contemporary
society. Her path
as President of
Smith College gives
us an insider's view
not only of the
institutional side
but the personal
demands and
their burdens. It
is a fascinating and
important
story."
--Justice
Sandra Day O'Connor,
U.S. Supreme Court
"Jill
Ker Conway offers an
elegant and highly
readable narrative
of both women's
education and her
own amidst the
feminist revolution
of the late
twentieth century.
This is a personal
as well as a
social and cultural
history -- and a
compelling story
besides."
-- Drew Gilpin
Faust, Dean,
Radcliffe Institute
for Advanced Study
and author of
Mothers
of
Invention
"A
WOMAN'S EDUCATION is
another inspiring
chapter in Jill Ker
Conway's life. This
time she recounts
the struggle and
triumphs as the
first woman
president of Smith
College. It is a
story of
strengths and hope
and success in a
woman's education.
Nothing came easy to
this gallant
woman."
--
Thomas Winship,
former Editor of
The Boston
Globe
"In
A WOMAN'S EDUCATION
Jill Ker Conway
continues her
fiercely
introspective and
fearless study
of her own life,
public role and
intellectual
development. It is a
compelling story of
an active, ambitious
and
intellectually
forceful woman who
has shaped her own
life. And along the
way, she provides
an invaluable and
frank history of how
a women's college
met the challenges
of the second wave
of feminism
under the
direction of a
thoroughly
independent thinker
who was determined
to build a modern,
feminist
institution. As
her successor, I was
constantly aware of
my debt to her, and
found her own story
of her years at
Smith entirely
fascinating and
instructive."
-- Mary Maples Dunn,
President Emerita,
Smith College
"Jill
Ker Conway continues
the absorbing and
beautifully crafted
account of her
life's journey with
her experiences
as president of
Smith. As always,
her autobiography is
an excellent read
for anyone who
cares about
interesting lives,
thoughtfully
described. This
particular volume
should appeal to
anyone who has
ever wondered what
college and
university
presidents actually
do, and why anyone
would want such a
job. Jill gives her
own answers to these
questions with
candor, humor, and
acute attentiveness
to
the multifaceted
nature of the
sometimes bizarre
and apparently
impenetrable office
of the
president."
-- Nannerl O.
Keohane, President,
Duke
University
"Jill
Conway gives the
reader that rare
glimpse of a whole
person tacking
historic events. Her
language is clear
and crisp, her
observations astute,
her understanding of
history remarkable,
even as she is
making it, yet
all this from a
woman's point of
view -- not only
about success or
failure, but the
larger issues of
living.... Ultimately,
Jill Conway, like
any great author,
leaves us better off
for our journey
through A Woman's
Education. Her
deep respect for
life, her careful,
honest, open
exploration of how
we live our lives
and her
unrelenting belief
in a set of values
that have the power
to take root in
people and
institutions makes
us take stock
of our own lives.
She does this
graciously,
joyfully, and
enjoyably."
-- F Baron Harvey
III, CEO, The
Enterprise
Foundation
"A
Woman's Education
provides a rare
insider's view of
what it means and
what it takes to be
a
college president,
as well as a unique
perspective on an
institution many of
us have come to know
and love. It was
the first thing I
handed to Carol
Christ, the moment
after she was
elected the new
President of
Smith
College."
-- Shelly Lazarus,
CEO, Oglesby &
Mather, and Chair of
the Smith College
Trustees
Jill
Ker Conway is the
the first to have
written of years as
a college or
university
president. In this
book, nonetheless,
she has set a
standard to which
all in the future
will have to
conform. In diversly
interesting English,
with penetrating
insight and memory,
she has told of the
problems and
prospects of leading
a much admired
college. And of
doing it very well.
No one can think
that they have a
full understanding
of women's
rights, scholarly
conflict, required
personal commitment
and true
accomplishment who
hasn't read these
pages. And further,
no one can know what
enjoyment was
missed. On
education, not to
say also personal
biography, it is
truly the book of
the year.
--
John Kenneth
Galbraith
"To
be president of
Smith from 1975 to
1985 required guts
and resilience;
Conway met the
challenge. Her
compelling account
of that
roller-coaster ride
prompts amazement.
There is much to
marvel at here;
my favorite gem
is her portrayal of
the aging male
conservative faculty
defending their cozy
turf."
--
Carolyn Heilbrun,
author of Writing
a Woman's
Life
"This
masterful story
interweaves lives
with institutional
history and modern
times. The backdrop
is a renowned
woman's college that
was fated to be
hidebound by
tradition until it
captured a president
whose past
dictated her future
and that of the
college. Challenged
by the opportunity,
she led
courageous innovations
and, amazingly agile
in neutralizing
foes, and
intellectually
honest, she chose to
act on
what mattered
most to the
long-term viability
of the college. In
the process, she
captured the
imagination and
support of a
disparate gang --
students, trustees,
faculties, and
administrators. It
is a poignant tale
of personal and
professional courage
that should be read
because it is all so
human and so
profound. Lessons
are there for the
young and the old
because she dares to
tell the
truth."
--
Margaret F. Mahoney,
MEM Associates,
Inc.
"As
a Smith alumna and a
fellow laborer in
the groves of
women's colleges, I
found Jill
Ker Conway's book
both absorbing and
touching....Her
educational vision
and personal
courage stood
her, and eventually
the institution she
served so well, in
very good stead.
A
Woman's Education
is an engaging
personal study of a
complicated period
in the women's
movement and in
the development of
selective women's
colleges."
-- Mary Patterson
McPherson, The
Andrew Mellon
Foundation and
President Emeritus,
Bryn Mawr College
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