Interim Director at the Helm at AASC

Mary Ann Hill joined Smith this month as the interim executive director of the Alumnae Association, following 11 years in the position of assistant vice president for public affairs at Wellesley College.

While there, she guided strategic communications for and participated in a college presidential search, as well as a restructuring of Wellesley’s Office of Public Affairs, and a celebration of the college’s 125th anniversary, to name a few highlights.

She will serve as interim executive director of the AASC at least until fall 2012. A task force comprised of members of the AASC board of directors and the college’s board of trustees, is in the process of developing a strategic plan to guide alumnae engagement. Hill follows Carrie Cadwell Brown, who served as the association’s executive director from 1997 to 2012.

As Alumnae Association interim director, Hill will take a close look at the college’s alumnae relations with a fresh perspective, she explains. “I feel I can make a difference in helping the Alumnae Association and staff build on its strong foundation and prepare for the future. How might we improve our alumnae relations efforts?”

Hill will supervise ongoing Alumnae Association events and programs, such as reunion, club activities, professional gatherings and travel.

After graduating from Wellesley College, Hill earned a master’s degree in public policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, and served as a legislative aide, then as deputy press secretary, for U.S. Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell, in Washington, D.C. She also served for two years as director of communications for the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports before returning to Boston and joining the Wellesley administration in 1998.

Hill resides in Newton, Mass., with her husband and three children—two sons and a daughter—all in school.

As a graduate of a Seven Sisters school, she feels fortunate to have the opportunity to spend time as a Smith administrator. “Smith has a very strong identity,” says Hill, “in terms of student experience and the lifelong bond it creates among alumnae. Smith is an organization I have tremendous respect for.”