Meet the President

On June 1, 2021, Dr. Julia Jasken became the 10th president of McDaniel College and the second woman president in the college’s over 150-year history. She has dedicated nearly her entire professional life to higher education and most notably to McDaniel, beginning in the classroom in 2003 as an English professor specializing in new media pedagogy and teaching a variety of professional writing courses. Over her tenure at McDaniel, Dr. Jasken has assumed increasing responsibility in administrative positions, serving as the college’s executive vice president and provost immediately preceding her presidency.

A champion of both the liberal arts and McDaniel’s student-centered mission, she has overseen many of the college’s most important strategic initiatives. As provost, she envisioned and designed the college’s signature McDaniel Commitment, which emphasizes experiential learning and alumni connections, and guarantees that every student, guided by a team of mentors, can construct and tailor their personal educational path.  Most recently, she launched the college’s five-year strategic plan to further position McDaniel as an innovative liberal arts college focused on student achievement and professional success, which has significantly increased student retention and continued the college’s track record of strong undergraduate enrollment. 

Education

A native of Moorhead, Minnesota, Dr. Jasken earned a bachelor’s degree from the College of Saint Benedict in St. Joseph, Minnesota, and a master’s degree from Northern Illinois University. She received her Ph.D. from Michigan Technological University; the topic of her dissertation was “Designing Composition: Textbooks, Teaching and Identity in the Digital Age.” Dr. Jasken's scholarly work appears in leading journals and focuses on the intersection of oral, written and visual communication.

Professional Contributions

Widely respected for her contributions to higher education, Dr. Jasken serves on the Board of Trustees of the Maryland Independent College and University Association (MICUA) and on the Board of Directors for Baltimore’s CollegeBound Foundation, Carroll County Chamber of Commerce, and Girl Scouts of Central Maryland. She has been appointed through 2028 to the NCAA Division III Presidents Council, the highest governing body in Division III athletics, representing the Centennial Conference.

A two-time honoree of The Daily Record’s Top 100 Women in Maryland, she has also been recognized by the publication among Maryland’s most influential figures in higher education, as well as a 2023 Influential Marylander. In 2024, she was selected as one of The Baltimore Sun’s Women to Watch and received the Distinguished Women Award by the Girl Scouts of Central Maryland. She was also a recipient of the Baltimore Business Journal’s Enterprising Women of Excellence award.

Home and Family

Dr. Jasken currently resides on campus in Westminster, Maryland, with her husband, David, two sons, Iain and Kyle, and adopted dog, Hitch. She'll be the first to tell you how special a place the Hill really is. After all, Dr. Jasken and her family have spent a lot of quality time on the Hill since 2003.