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Alison R. Bernstein, a scholar in the field of Humanities and Women's Studies, and a former Vice President of the Ford Foundation, has been appointed Director of Rutgers' Institute for Women's Leadership (IWL) effective July 1, 2011. Bernstein served as a Vice President for the Education, Creativity, and Free Expression program at the Ford Foundation from 1996 to 2010. She is currently the William H. and Camille Cosby Endowed Chair and Professor of Humanities and Women's Studies at Spelman College in Atlanta, GA. An academic whose interest in Women's and Gender Studies runs both wide and deep, Bernstein coordinated the President's Standing Committee on the Status of Women while she was Associate Dean of the Faculty at Princeton, and has done extensive research into American Indian history, with an emphasis on Native American women. A former member of the Presidential Advisory Board on Tribal Colleges and Universities and the Board of Advisors to the Smithsonian Institution - National Museum of American History, Bernstein teaches an undergraduate course at Spelman, "Walking in Two Worlds: American Indian Women in the 20th Century". Bernstein is also a scholar in the field of education, with a hand in both the academic and the public sectors. In addition to serving as Program and Planning Officer at the Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education within the US Department of Education, she is writing a book which traces the historical impact on American Philanthropy on Higher Education. A a Vice Chair of the Bates College Board of Trustees, the new director also serves on the Boards of the Samuel Rubin Foundation and Project Pericles, a consortium of 28 universities committed to civic engagement and service learning. Change magazine chose her as an Outstanding Leader in Higher Education in 2000, and the National Council for Research on Women honored Bernstein with the "Women Who Make a Difference" award in 2007.