Deborah G. Thomas, PhD - '71

Deborah Thomas has worked in the field of higher education for over thirty years. After graduating from Middlebury College, she began her career at Bates College as Assistant Dean of Students and Foreign Student Advisor. She then worked as a Foundation Associate at the Rhode Island Foundation, reviewing grant proposals from nonprofit organizations in Rhode Island in the areas of health, historic preservation and environment, education, arts and cultural activities, and social services. From 1982-1999, Dr. Thomas was Associate Dean of the Graduate School and Lecturer in America Studies and African American Studies at Yale University. As Associate Dean she oversaw the administration of graduate education leading to the MA, MPhil and PhD. degrees, academic planning, the awarding of fellowships and grants, and the recruitment of underrepresented students. A high point of her career at Yale was her work as a member of the Yale Corporation Fact-Finding Delegation to South Africa which led to the establishment of new educational initiatives. As a member of the Yale College Faculty, she taught courses in American Civilization, American Literature and Women's Studies and advised students majoring in these fields. In 1999, she was asked to take on a number of university-wide projects as Associate Secretary of the University and Assistant to the President, including the President's Council on International Affairs. She retired from Yale in 2004, after 33 years of service. She continued her work in higher education as a member of the Board of Trustees of Middlebury College, beginning in 2004. As a Board member, she chaired the College Board of Overseers and the Educational Affairs Committee. She was a member of the Presidential Search Committee. She retired from the Middlebury College Board in 2019 as a Charter Trustee, after 15 years of service. She attended public school in Ridgewood, NJ. She graduated in 1971 from Ridgewood High School, a year earlier than the rest of her class, in order to start her freshmen year at Middlebury College. She earned a BA degree in American Studies and American Literature from Middlebury College, followed by MA and PhD degrees in American Civilization from Brown University. She is the recipient of a number of honors, including a Dorothy Danforth Compton Fellowship from Brown University, the Women's Campaign School at Yale, and, most recently, she was inducted into the National Edward Alexander Boucher Graduate Honor Society. She has deep roots in the Ridgewood community. Her mother, brothers and numerous other family members graduated from Ridgewood public schools. Her father, Wesley C. Thomas, served on the Ridgewood Board of Education. Her family believed not only in the importance of education, but community service. She continues that tradition through her involvement in the local community. She is member of a community service organization, The Links, Inc., has served on the Whitney Center Board, a senior living facility, and, along with her husband James, served on the Capital Campaign Committee for the Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale. Inducted 2022.