Columbia College names new president
Columbia College Chicago announced Monday that Shantay N. Bolton will take over as president of the art-focused South Loop school.
Bolton, who served as chief business officer at the Georgia Institute of Technology, will be the first woman of color to ever lead Columbia and the first woman in nearly 90 years, the school said in a statement. She begins July 1.
She replaces Kwang-Wu Kim, who resigned last year following declining enrollment and a six-week strike. Administrators threatened to lay off hundreds of adjunct staff, saying the cuts were necessary to plug a $38 million deficit. Seventy staffers were laid off in May 2024. In September, the school cut 18 majors that it described as "underperforming."
Bolton is being brought on to guide the school, which has seen enrollment drop from more than 11,000 in 2010 to less than 7,000 in 2022.
At Georgia Tech, Bolton managed a $3.1-billion operation and served as executive vice president of administration and finance, according to a Columbia College statement. She also led the rollout of Georgia Tech’s hybrid budget model and oversaw more than $500 million in recent capital projects.
Columbia College Board of Trustees President John M. Holmes said Bolton will bring her "transformational" leadership to the South Loop school.
“The board believes Dr. Bolton is the right leader to propel Columbia forward and to enhance our status as a national and international leader in helping young creatives of all backgrounds launch their careers, and in fueling the creative economy," Holmes said in the statement.
She was named to Gambit’s “40 under 40” in New Orleans and among the “Titan 100” for both the St. Louis and Georgia regions, and she is a 2024 “Women we admire in Georgia” awardee.
Bolton said she planned to "build on Columbia’s unique creative culture and strengthen connections to industry and the civic community at a time when creativity is widely viewed by employers as one of the most sought-after skills."