A woman's education

by Jill K. Conway

"The author of the best-selling The Road from Coorain and True North now gives us the third book in her remarkable continuing memoir - describing the pleasures, the challenges, and the constant surprises (good and bad) of her years as the first woman president of Smith College.". "The story opens in 1973 as Conway, unbeknownst to her, is first "looked over" as a prospective candidate by members of the Smith community, and continues as she assesses her passions and possibilities and agrees to the new challenge of heading the college in 1975. The jolt of energy she gets from being surrounded by several thousand young women enables her to take on the difficulties that arise in dealing with the diverse Smith constituencies - from the self-appointed protectors of the great male tradition of humanistic learning to the equally determined young feminists insisting on change. We see Conway juggling the needs and concerns of faculty, students, parents, trustees, and alumnae, and redefining and r