The Guilford College Board of Trustees has appointed Jean Parvin Bordewich to a two-year term as President of Guilford College, recognizing the significant progress made under her leadership since she became Acting President in January.

Jean, who becomes the 11th President in the College’s history, will serve through the 2026-27 academic year. Trustees issued a statement Friday saying Jean’s leadership over the next 24 months will allow Guilford to continue stabilizing its finances, pursue continued accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), advance a reimagined curriculum, and pursue other initiatives addressing the challenges facing small liberal arts colleges.

Dan Mosca, Trustee Chair, praised Jean’s leadership over the past seven-plus months and is excited about the work she will do moving forward.

“I’ve had the opportunity over the past seven months to work closely with Jean and see her in action,” says Dan. “Her enthusiasm and passion for Guilford has been infectious with so many alumni and friends of the College. She’s displayed such a positive aura facing a lot of challenges. Others have seen that and are drawn to her. They want to help the College succeed.”

Dan says trustees will work closely with Jean and her administration over the next two years to strengthen structures and systems that ensure a sustainable future for Guilford. He says the College remains committed to its Quaker tradition and to providing a positive, enriching experience for students, faculty and staff.

Jean has been instrumental in helping the College reorganize its operations, reduce its expenses and generate additional revenue. She spearheaded the For the Good of Guilford campaign, which last month announced more than $6 million raised in unrestricted cash since the transition started in January, exceeding its goal of $5 million. It also surpassed the goal of doubling the number of alumni donors to 1,800 this fiscal year, hitting 2,201 before the campaign ended June 30. She became chair of the Board of Trustees in May 2024, and stepped in as Acting President eight months later.

Jean says she's excited to take up this role. "I never imagined this culmination of my education, professional career and volunteer service," she says. "But it's full circle for me. Guilford teaches that fulfillment comes from developing one's full being and applying that to a purpose that meets the world's needs. The world needs Guilford now, and I am eager to lead this unique community for the next two years."

A fourth-generation Guilfordian with deep family roots in the College’s Quaker heritage, Jean attended Guilford for two years before earning a bachelor’s degree in Classics from Brown University and an MBA from The George Washington University. As a student at Guilford, she was a Dana Scholar, Richardson Fellow and reporter for The Guilfordian newspaper.

Jean’s professional background includes serving as staff director of the U.S. Senate Rules Committee and the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, overseeing the 2013 Obama-Biden inauguration; chief of staff to U.S. Rep. John Hall; and senior roles with U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer and other members of Congress. She also helped launch the U.S. Democracy Program at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and worked as a business executive in New York City.

As a playwright, Jean focuses on the moral choices of public figures at pivotal moments in history. Her most recent work, Electionland, about the contested 1876 presidential election, debuted in 2024 at the President Rutherford B. Hayes historic site and had a Washington, D.C., reading in the U.S. Senate in April. It is also incorporated into a free, online public-access educational curriculum about U.S. history for high school students.

Jean and her husband, historian and author Fergus M. Bordewich, are moving to Greensboro full time. Jean had been commuting to Guilford from their prior home in Washington, D.C.