On Board/ New Trustees
Wilson-Oyelaran and Kaplan Join Board of Trustees

The Pomona College Board of Trustees welcomed two new members, Kalamazoo College
President Eileen Wilson-Oyelaran ’69 and Jean Moran Kaplan ’83, national chair for annual giving, 2004-07.

Wilson-Oyelaran became Kalamazoo’s 17th president in July 2005, after serving in teaching and administrative positions at Salem Academy and College in Winston-Salem, N.C. In her inaugural remarks at Kalamazoo, she described the student scholar’s spirit as “a sense that wherever they find themselves they can be at home and make a home because they respect difference, can view the world from multiple perspectives, can adapt to new situations and have the ability to put themselves at the margins.”

A strong proponent of equity and inclusion, Wilson-Oyelaran has an extensive background in higher education and child development. While in Nigeria—her academic home for 14 years—she served as a consultant for UNICEF (Nigeria). A native of Los Angeles, she is married to Olasope Oyelaran, and they have raised four children.

“Eileen Wilson-Oyelaran is a visionary academic leader who will bring broad international experience to her role at Pomona College,” says Pomona President David Oxtoby. “She is a strategic thinker committed to the values of liberal education.”

Kaplan was a business consultant until 1999 when she decided to use her M.B.A. to run her home—she and her husband, Stephen, have six children in their blended family.

In 2003, Kaplan reconnected with the College when she co-chaired her 20th reunion. As a financial aid recipient herself, she felt strongly about The Annual Fund, which enables the College to accept students regardless of income. In her second year as national chair for annual giving, the Annual Fund’s top volunteer led the effort that raised a record-setting $4.4 million.

“Jean Kaplan has been an exemplary alumni volunteer for Pomona in reunion leadership and most recently as national chair for annual giving. She will bring insight and enthusiasm to the board,” says Oxtoby.

“I’d really like to start the tradition of giving to the College as soon after you graduate as possible, so it just becomes a habit,” says Kaplan. “I want people to continue to feel connected to the College, not just during reunion years.”