Grace Wang begins tenure as WPI president

Grace Wang speaks with a group of students with administrators and faculty in the background

Photo | Courtesy of Worcester Polytechnic Institute WPI President Grace Wang speaks with students.

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By Timothy Doyle

Grace Wang started on Monday as president of Worcester Polytechnic Institute, the first person of color to lead WPI on a non-interim basis.

“Through my campus visits and meetings with many of you, it is clear to me that WPI’s founding principle of theory and practice has truly stood the test of time,” Wang said in a letter addressed to the WPI community. “For 158 years our university has lived by this principle to educate the best critical thinkers, change makers, and STEM-focused leaders and to discover and innovate to tackle the challenges facing our society and planet. “

Wang was hired in November and replaces Winston “Wole” Soboyejo WPI provost and senior vice president, who has served as interim president since the May 2022 departure of Laurie Leshin to head NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California.

Wang has a background in the public and private sectors as well as academia, joining WPI from The Ohio State University where she served as the executive vice president for research, innovation, and knowledge.

Wang acknowledges the important role that the university plays in Worcester. In November she told WBJ speaking about Gateway Park in Worcester, ““It’s really one of our responsibilities, and it’s an opportunity as well, to play a significant role and partner with the city, the state, our investors, and community leaders on this project.”

Wang, who is Chinese-American, is the first person of color to hold the office of WPI president at the university on a non-interim basis. Soboyejo, who is Black and the first person of color to lead WPI, held the office as interim president in between Wang and Leshin, who was the first woman to lead the university.

Wang joins Nancy Niemi of Framingham State University and Mary Lou Retelle of Anna Maria College as one of three women currently serving as president of the 15 Central Massachusetts colleges and Universities.