An experienced teacher, scholar, and leader, Dr. Kathleen Poorman Dougherty was appointed Interim President of Marietta College on January 1, 2025. She holds a B.A. in Philosophy from St. Olaf College and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Oklahoma. Her scholarly interests are in moral theory, specifically virtue ethics and the development of the moral self. Her work focuses on the moral significance of self-knowledge, the relationship between personal relationships and the development of character, as well as the role of forgiveness in the moral life.
Dr. Dougherty has considerable experience in higher education financial management, academic program innovation, faculty and staff development, and fostering student success. Previously, Dr. Dougherty served as Marietta’s Provost and Dean of the Faculty. Prior to her time at Marietta, she was Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at Alma College. She also served as Dean of the School of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education at Mount Mary University and as an outside chair at Notre Dame of Maryland University, both urban, Catholic women’s colleges. She held faculty positions at Bowie State University and at George Washington University.
With Dr. Dougherty’s leadership, Marietta College completed a major academic program review process as well as a substantive strategic planning process. As part of this planning process, the Board of Trustees recently approved the development of a portfolio of new academic programs to support innovation. While Provost at Alma, she led a major revision to the general education curriculum which was recognized as distinctive by the Fiske Guide; the new curriculum fosters an inter-disciplinary approach, centering vocational exploration and experiential learning. These curricular priorities formed the cornerstone of the institution’s strategic plan. In addition, she led the growth and implementation of the college’s first graduate programs.
As a champion for the transformative power of a liberal arts education, Dr. Dougherty prioritizes helping students discover their calling and considers vocational exploration to be foundational for the development of lives of purpose for students, faculty, and staff. She initiated institution-wide grant-funded vocational exploration projects at each of her previous two institutions and is a member of the national Advisory Council for the Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education, an initiative of the Council of Independent Colleges.
Dr. Dougherty is committed to supporting the relationship between small liberal arts colleges and their surrounding communities. At Alma, this collaborative and relational approach led to the development of Alma’s Center for College and Community Engagement (CCCE), which provides a sense of institutional vocation and reinvigorates Alma’s relationship with its local community. At Mount Mary, Dr. Dougherty directed the Caroline Scholars Program, a major scholarship program centered on service learning that educated leaders for social justice. She facilitated service-learning placements for each scholar and stewarded the relationship with the funding foundation as well as with non-profit organizations in the Milwaukee area.
A believer in life-long learning, she regularly engages in efforts to further her own professional development, recently completing Executive Leadership Academy through the American Academic Leadership Institute. She is currently working toward a certificate in Fund Raising Management at the Lilly School of Philanthropy.
A native of Ashland, Ohio, Dr. Dougherty has one child, Emma, who is currently finishing law school at Stanford. They are joined by the cat, Ruby.