Whitman College officials announced today the successor to current President George Bridges. Bridges had announced he will leave the position in June after the current school year ends.  Kathleen Murray — an accomplished classical pianist and current provost and dean of faculty at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn. — will be Whitman’s first woman president in the college’s 132-year history.

After an eight-month nationwide search by a committee of trustees, alumni, faculty, staff and students, the Whitman College Board of Trustees unanimously approved Murray’s appointment as president on Nov. 7.  Her presidency will begin in July as Bridges ends his 10 years of leading the college.

Bridges gave no reason for leaving his position.  “Although I have no immediate plans,” Bridges said, “Kari (his wife) and I are considering many options.”

In addition to serving as provost and dean of faculty, Murray was also temporary president at Macalester in 2013.“Kathy rose to the top of the list due to her understanding of the importance of maintaining Whitman’s distinct culture while building on its strengths to move us forward,” Rachna Sinnott, Whitman’s director of Foundation and Corporate Relations and member of the Presidential Search Committee, said. “She understood and articulated well what Whitman wants to be in the next 10 years and provided a vision that will help us achieve those goals.”

Along with her college administrative experience at Macalester and other colleges, Murray also holds a doctorate of music in piano performance. She has authored dozens of articles on music, recorded on the CRI record label, was an accompanist at the Prague Spring International Music Festival, and has performed on Wisconsin Public Radio and in numerous solo piano recitals across the Midwest, Whitman officials said in a news release.

Kathy received her Bachelor of Music degree from Illinois Wesleyan University in 1979, her Master of Music in Piano Performance from Bowling Green State University in 1982, and her Doctor of Music in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from Northwestern University in 1989.

Murray plans to move to Walla Walla, Washington, with her partner Bridget Reischl in early summer and will begin her presidency on July 1, 2015.