Joan Straumanis ( born 1937) is an academic administrator, philosopher, second-wave feminist, mathematician, civil libertarian, public speaker, and American pioneer in women's studies. She co-created the first women's studies program outside a public university, and served as president of both Antioch College and the Metropolitan College of New York and as academic dean at other institutions.
Early life and education
Straumanis was born in New York City. She lived most of her childhood in Parkchester, a 12,000 unit post-war housing development in the Bronx. She was the oldest child of second-generation immigrants, whose parents left eastern Europe in the early twentieth century. Her father, Herbert S. Cole, was raised in a Jewish orphanage in New York and became the first in his family to attend college. Her mother, Mollie Brandt Cole, attended college only after a long career in insurance administration. As a young child, Joan was given freedom to travel by subway and visit museums alone, allowing her to develop personal independence and wide interests.
Straumanis is a graduate of Bronx High School of Science (1953) and of Antioch College (1957). After attaining the equivalent of a master's degree in mathematics based on graduate studies at the University of Colorado and Ohio State University, she completed a PhD in the philosophy department at the University of Maryland (1971).
Academic career summary
Straumanis taught in secondary education and higher education, and worked in two U.S. government agencies administering grant programs: the Department of Education and the National Science Foundation. She served as a leader and administrator at five US colleges: Kenyon College (Academic Dean/Associate Provost), Rollins College (Dean of the Faculty), Lehigh University (Arts and Sciences Dean), Antioch College (President), and Metropolitan College of New York (President). She was the first woman to hold a senior administration position at Kenyon College as well as the first woman to hold the rank of full professor there. She was the first female president of Antioch College and the first woman to be a dean at any college within Lehigh University.
Straumanis taught mathematics to high school students before earning a PhD in philosophy, afterwards teaching philosophy at the college level. At various institutions, Straumanis taught ethics, logic, women's studies, philosophy of science, philosophy of the social sciences, history of science, and philosophy of language, among other classes.
Throughout her career, she supported academic innovation including with service on these boards: Ohio Foundation for Independent Colleges, INTART Foundation (promoting contemporary Russian art), Museo Fondo Del Sol, SMART Discovery Center science museum, Orlando Science Center, and Northwest Area Foundation. Straumanis has also served on numerous accreditation boards, institutional review boards, academic commissions and task forces.
Institutional transition leadership
Antioch College
During her two and a half-year contract as president of Antioch College (2002–2004), Straumanis rebuilt community trust with the staff unions, completing the first contract revision negotiation in thirty years. She oversaw a Renewal Commission, chartered by the board of trustees, and the Committee of 150, a broad volunteer effort by top professionals in higher education in honor of the college's sesquicentennial year. She brought in Antioch as a founding member of the Eco League multi-college environmental consortium of "green" colleges. During her presidency, she also launched a capital campaign and helped initiate curricular reform and budget stabilization plans.
Metropolitan College of New York
The Registry for Retired College and University presidents connected Straumanis to a one-year contract as president of the Metropolitan College of New York (academic year 2007–2008). Straumanis reversed impending plans for sale of the college to a for-profit institution, recommitted the college to its founding vision of service work combined with academics, and rebuilt enrollment as well as the administration and the board of trustees. Her "savvy, down-to-earth leadership style brought the college back from the brink."
Straumanis's comments upon being hired indicate her approach to complex situations:“It’s exciting,” she said of her new post at the college. “It’s going to be challenging, and it’s going to be an adventure.”