In conversation: McDaniel College President, Dr. Julia Jasken

By Tom Hall,

Teria Rogers, Malarie Pinkard-Pierre, Rob Sivak

Published November 15, 2023 at 12:00 PM EST

Dr. Julia Jasken was selected by the McDaniel College Board of Trustees as the college’s tenth president, effective June 1, 2021. Dr. Jasken is only the second woman president in the college’s 156-year history. She has dedicated nearly her entire professional life to higher education and most notably to McDaniel, beginning in the classroom in 2003 as an English professor and, prior to her presidential appointment, serving as the college’s executive vice president and provost. (photo courtesy McDaniel College)

Today, another installment of Midday on Higher Education, our continuing series of conversations with the leaders of Maryland's colleges and universities.

Tom's guest is Dr. Julia Jasken. She came to McDaniel College in Carroll County as an English teacher in 2003. In 2021, she was selected as the college’s 10^th President, the second woman to serve in that role.

McDaniel is home to about 1,800 undergraduates and 1,400 graduate students. This week, McDaniel announced an initiative to help high school students from Carroll County navigate the college application process, and receive scholarships to attend McDaniel, which has served as an anchor in the county since 1867.

Dr. Julia Jasken joins us on Zoom from her office at McDaniel College.

An aerial view of the McDaniel College campus in Westminster, Maryland, located in rolling countryside about 35 miles northwest of Baltimore. (photo courtesy McDaniel College)