"I am greatly honored to be chosen as Lafayette's 17th president and excited by the opportunity to lead such a dynamic and ambitious institution," said Byerly. "As an undergraduate college that encompasses both the traditional liberal arts and a strong engineering program, Lafayette provides an extraordinary range and depth of opportunities to students, yet it remains deeply committed to the highly individualized, one-on-one mentoring that is the hallmark of the residential liberal arts college."

Byerly succeeds Daniel H. Weiss, who will assume the presidency of Haverford College in July. She is the former provost of Middlebury College and is described by Lafayette as the national voice on the role of technology in higher education.

"At a time when many liberal arts colleges are looking for ways to extend their reach further into the world of technology and to connect the traditional liberal arts disciplines with opportunities to pursue more project-based, hands-on modes of inquiry, Lafayette is well positioned to lead in these initiatives," Byerly said.

She served in leadership positions at Middlebury College for 13 years, most recently as provost and executive vice president. Byerly holds an interdisciplinary faculty appointment at Middlebury and has been a visiting scholar at MIT, Stanford, and Oxford.