Lucy Stanton Day Sessions

First African-American woman in the United States to receive a college degree
​(Oberlin College, 1850) 

Harriette Cooke

First woman higher ed instructor in the US appointed full professor with a salary equal to her male peers
(Cornell College in Iowa, 1871)

Julia Sears

First woman to head a public college in the United States
(Minnesota State University Mankato, 1872)

Grace Van Dyke Bird

First woman to head a community college in California
​(Bakersfield College, 1921)

Lorene Rogers

First woman president of a major research university
(University of Texas, 1975)

Marguerite Ross Barnett

First Black woman to lead a major university
​(University of Houston, 1990)

Judith Rodin

First woman president at an Ivy League University
​(University of Pennsylvania, 1994)