Three Bryn Mawr College presidents are teaching or leading student programs on campus this academic year.

President Wendy Cadge, President Emeritus Kim Cassidy and President Emeritus Mary Patterson McPherson are each offering courses or conversation series during the 2026–27 year, according to the college's bulletin.

Cassidy, a psychologist who served as Bryn Mawr's ninth president, returned to teaching this fall after a two-year sabbatical. She is leading an Emily Balch Seminar (ESEM) called Finding Purpose in Higher Education, a first-year course that asks students to examine the college's mission statement and their own reasons for attending.

"This class lets me combine that knowledge with a heavy amount of psychology," Cassidy said, describing how she draws on her presidential experience.

During the seminar's second week, first-year students debated the mission statement Cassidy helped draft in 2019. They discussed questions about equity, inclusion and what parts of the statement are aspirational versus foundational.

Psychology is her specialty. Cassidy taught a psychology course every year during her presidency but had not led an ESEM before this semester. She is also teaching Educational Psychology this fall. In the spring, she will co-teach a new course called The Science of a Life of Meaning, Joy, and Connection with Professor of Psychology Marc Schulz.

Cadge, a sociologist of religion who also serves as the college's president, is teaching her own ESEM this fall: Sacred Spaces, Bryn Mawr and Beyond. The course draws on her research into religion in public institutions and religious diversity. At the college's Aug. 30 convocation, Cadge described the campus as a sacred space that "must be profoundly entwined with, and open to, the world our students will encounter, shape, and lead."

McPherson, who led Bryn Mawr from 1978 to 1997, will host a seven-week Zoom conversation series in the spring. The series will bring together alumni, students, faculty and other community members around topics in intellectual and civic life.

She is 91.

McPherson said she is looking forward to a chance "to learn new things from splendid Bryn Mawr faculty."

What's ahead

Spring dates for McPherson's conversation series and the Cassidy-Schulz course have not been announced. Both are expected during the spring 2027 semester at Bryn Mawr College, 101 N. Merion Ave., Bryn Mawr.