Michele Tolela Myers became the ninth president of Sarah Lawrence College in 1998, succeeding Alice Stone Ilchman, who had served as president for 17 years. Prior to her presidency at Sarah Lawrence, Dr. Myers was president of Denison University for nine years, and from 1986-1989, dean of the undergraduate college at Bryn Mawr College. She retired and was named president emerita by the Board of Trustees as of August 1, 2007.

Dr. Myers is a member of the Board of Directors of JSTOR, ARTstor and the Sherman Fairchild Foundation. She served as chairman of the American Council on Education from 1997-98. She is a past director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, past director of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, past chair of the Five Ohio Colleges Consortium and past member of the President's Commission, National Collegiate Athletic Association.

In 1996 Dr. Myers received the Knight Foundation Award for Presidential Leadership, given for the first time that year to presidents of liberal arts colleges, for her leadership and courage in radically changing the role of fraternities and sororities on the Denison campus, and improving the academic programs and reputation of the college. Dr. Myers holds honorary doctorates from the University of Denver (1999), Denison University (1998) and Wittenberg University (1994).

Under Dr. Myers' leadership, Sarah Lawrence completed a $75 million fund raising campaign that surpassed its goal by $6 million. The campaign's purpose included funding for a $25 million state-of-the-art visual arts building that opened in the fall of 2004, endowment funds and support for ongoing needs of the College including student scholarships, improved faculty salaries, technology and building renovations and improvements.

Dr. Myers' guidance in the building of the Monika A. and Charles A. Heimbold, Jr. Visual Arts Center resulted in a facility that gives the visual arts and visual culture a central position on campus, geographically and academically. Her efforts to enhance the sense of community on campus and beyond by encouraging student leadership and community service have been transformative. With the renovation of Bates, made possible by the building of the visual arts center as well as funds raised specifically for it through President Myers' initiative, the College has for the first time a student center.

During her tenure at Denison, President Myers improved the university's academic programs and standing. Denison's endowment grew from $75 million to $400 million under her leadership. She presided over the construction of major new buildings, including an environmental field teaching and research station, a science complex, an athletic and recreation facility and major improvements to the student center.

Dr. Myers earned a diplôme in political science and economics from the Institute of Political Studies at the University of Paris in 1962. She earned a master's degree in 1966 and a Ph.D. degree in 1967 in communication studies from the University of Denver, as well as the master's degree in 1977 in clinical psychology from Trinity University in Texas. She taught sociology and communication, with an emphasis on organizational behavior, managerial communication and negotiations, and has been a consultant on these issues for education, business, professional and healthcare organizations. She is coauthor, with Gail E. Myers, of four books on communications: The Dynamics of Human Communication: A Laboratory Approach; Managing by Communication: an Organizational Approach; Communicating When We Speak; and Communication for the Urban Professional.

Born in Rabat, Morocco, and reared and educated in Paris, Dr. Myers is bilingual in French and English and holds dual citizenship in the United States and France. Dr. Myers has two children, Erika, a graduate of Amherst College and Harvard University, and David, a graduate of Carleton College.