Office Hours with John Gardner
Shares her experiences as an innovator in a time of innovation. Listen to this discussion on the importance of understanding historical context. Cable also shares why she believes lessons of humanities should be core of institutional requirements, and importance of student agency.
Guest Bio
A nationally recognized leader in higher education, educational access, financial aid and affordability, and liberal arts and sciences curricula, Dr. Cable served as Dean at Denison University from 1977-1986, Guilford College from 1986-1991, and Vice President and Dean of Admission and Financial Aid at Davidson College from 1991-2005. Together with Davidson trustees, faculty, staff, and student leaders, she helped to lead efforts to advance selectivity, diversity, financial capacity, and to implement a strategic plan that advanced Davidson College’s standing as one of the strongest liberal arts colleges in the U.S. From 2005-2009, she served as Vice President for Development in the College of Engineering at the University of Virginia and later with UVA’s Semester at Sea Program. Following three years of service as Bates College’s Vice President, the Bates College Board of Trustees elected Dr. Cable as Interim President, a position that allowed her to help lead college wide efforts on governance, faculty and curricular issues, and matters of diversity and inclusion.
A member of Phi Beta Kappa, she earned her B.A. from Marietta College, a M.Ed. from the University of Vermont, and a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia. She also completed the Harvard University Institute for Educational Leadership.
Dr. Cable is one of the charter founders of the University of Virginia Semester at Sea Desmond Tutu Program in Global Understanding and the CY Tung Scholars program on US-China Relations. She was named a Fulbright Senior Specialist and has consulted with the Director of the Fulbright Center in Hong Kong on the development of the liberal arts curricula within the evolving Chinese higher education system.
Her professional service has included membership on many boards of trustees for schools and colleges, including Marietta College, The College Board Task Force on Equity in Higher Education, The Council of Independent Colleges, the Maine Public Broadcasting System, the Jacksonville Civic Council, the WJCT Public Radio and Television in Jacksonville, the National Center for Family Philanthropy, and The Asheville School. From 2013-2017, she served as Chair of the Better Angels Society Board of Directors, which advises and supports Ken Burns’ work as America’s leading documentarian of long form historical documentaries. In January 2017, she was appointed to the Board of Trustees of the National Trust for the Humanities in Washington D.C.
