Carol T. Christ

Carol Tecla Christ (born 1944 in New York City) was the president of Smith College from 2002-2013. Smith College, located in Northampton, Massachusetts, is a liberal arts college and one of the Seven Sisters colleges.

In 1966, Christ graduated with high honors from Douglass College, the women's college at Rutgers University. She received a Ph.D. in English from Yale University. Her late husband, Paul Alpers, was a scholar of Renaissance English literature.

In 1970, Christ joined the faculty at the University of California, Berkeley and was chair of the English department from 1985 to 1988. In 1988 she was appointed dean of humanities, mathematics, and natural sciences. She also served as provost and dean of the College of Letters and Sciences. In 1994, Christ was appointed vice chancellor, assistant manager, and provost (and later became executive vice chancellor) at Berkeley. She was the highest-ranking female administrator at Berkeley until she returned to full-time teaching in 2000.