Janet Inskeep Benton began her three-year term as the new chair of Pomona College’s Board of Trustees on July 1, succeeding outgoing chair Sam Glick who had led the board since 2015.

Benton, a 1979 Pomona College alumna, has been a member of the board of trustees since 2013 and was a part of the search committee that brought current Pomona President G. Gabrielle Starr aboard in 2017. She’s also served on various board committees, co-chaired the strategic planning process, and was a member of the ad hoc committee on access and enrollment.

“Our Board of Trustees believes in and is committed to the promise of a Pomona College education,” Benton said in a statement at pomona.edu/news. “As board chair, I will engage these colleagues and bring them together to address strategic issues that come before us. I’m honored to serve in this role and look forward to a productive year ahead.”

“The board is always looking to the future. Our call to prepare students to ‘bear their added riches in trust for all’ requires that we continually deepen our liberal arts curriculum to meet the challenges of the world our graduates will enter and help to shape,” she was quoted saying. “The College’s strategic vision serves as a roadmap for this work.”

Apparently referencing recent protests on the Pomona campus, Benton added, “Finding a path forward for our community is a priority for the board, and we will seek to bring trustees together in open and respectful conversation with faculty, staff and students.”

Benton is the founder and president of Frog Rock Foundation and previously served on the Chappaqua Board of Education and as board chair of the Jacob Burns Film Center. She has supported scholarships and projects in history and the arts and her 2019 gift made construction of her namesake Benton Museum of Art a reality.

Learn more at pomona.edu/news.