Joanne Berger-Sweeney
Joanne Berger-Sweeney, an accomplished neuroscientist and experienced leader in higher education, served as president of Trinity College and served from 2014 to 2025. She was the first African American and the first woman to serve as president of the College since it was founded in 1823. As president, she championed a liberal arts education, improving campus equity and diversity, fostering community and global engagement, engaging with the institution’s proud alumni, and preparing students to lead bold and transformative lives.
Under Berger-Sweeney’s leadership, the College increased financial aid, improved retention rates, enriched the diversity of its student body and faculty, improved postgraduation career outcome success rates, nearly doubled its endowment, and launched the largest fundraising campaign in its history.
Before Trinity, Berger-Sweeney was dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at Tufts University. She began her academic career as a member of the Wellesley College faculty, moving from an assistant professor to director of Wellesley’s Neuroscience Program and an associate dean.
Berger-Sweeney received an undergraduate degree in psychobiology from Wellesley College, an M.P.H. in environmental health sciences from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Ph.D. in neurotoxicology from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. She completed postdoctoral training at the National Institute of Health (INSERM) in Paris, France. Berger-Sweeney has authored more than 60 scientific publications, holds several scientific patents, and received funding from the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and numerous private foundations.
Academic awards for Berger-Sweeney include a Lifetime Mentoring Award from the Society for Neuroscience (2006) and a National Science Foundation Young Investigator Award. In addition to her election to the American Â鶹´«Ã½ÍøÕ¾ of Arts and Sciences, she is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the International Behavioral Neuroscience Society.