Distinguished Visiting Professors

Wellesley College is proud to announce that Henry M. Paulson, Jr. and Wendy Judge Paulson '69  will serve as the 2013 Mary Jane Durnford Lewis '59 Distinguished Visiting Professors at the Madeleine Korbel Albright Institute for Global Affairs.  

The former U.S. Treasury Secretary and his wife, a long-time educator and conservationist, will spend the final week of the Institute’s Wintersession program with the 40 Wellesley students selected as Albright Fellows.

Henry M. Paulson, Jr.

Henry M. Paulson, Jr. served under President George W. Bush as the 74th Secretary of the Treasury from July 2006 until January 2009. As Treasury Secretary, Paulson was the President's leading policy advisor on a broad range of domestic and international economic issues.

Before going to the Treasury Department, Paulson had a 32-year career at Goldman Sachs, serving as chairman and chief executive officer since the firm’s initial public offering in 1999. He is involved in a range of conservation and environmental initiatives having served as Chairman of The Peregrine Fund, Inc., chairman of the Board of Directors for the Nature Conservancy and was co-chairman of its Asia/Pacific Council.

Prior to joining Goldman Sachs, Paulson was a member of the White House Domestic Council, serving as staff assistant to the President from 1972 to 1973, and as staff assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Defense at the Pentagon from 1970 to 1972.

Paulson graduated from Dartmouth College in 1968, where he was an English major, a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and an All-Ivy, All-East football player. He received an M.B.A. from Harvard in 1970. He and his wife, Wendy, have two grown children and four grandchildren.

In February 2010, Paulson published his first book, On the Brink, detailing his experience at Treasury during the global financial crisis. In 2011, he founded and currently serves as chairman of the Paulson Institute at the University of Chicago, which is dedicated to addressing issues of global scope with an initial emphasis on engagements designed to strengthen the crucially important relationship between the United States and China with a special focus on facilitating concrete actions by businesses and governments designed to promote cross border investment, sustainable economic growth, and a cleaner environment around the world.

Wendy Judge Paulson '69

Wendy Judge Paulson’s career has been in teaching, beginning in the Boston Public Schools; later at The Potomac School in McLean, Va.; in the Barrington Public Schools as “The Nature Lady”; and as director of education for Citizens for Conservation, a community conservation group in Barrington.  She taught year-long bird classes in two New York City public schools for eight years, through Audubon New York. An English major, she graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Wellesley in 1969.

Wendy serves as chair emerita of Rare, an international conservation organization that trains local leaders to inspire conservation in communities around the world. In addition, she serves on the Board of Directors of Openlands (Chicago);  as educational associate of the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology; member of the National Parks Conservation Association Midwest Regional Council, the National Council of the Student Conservation Association, The National Forum on Children & Nature, the American Bird Conservancy advisory council, BirdLife International/Audubon US Stewardship Council, Island Press Thought Leaders Advisory Council and The Field Museum’s ECCo (Environment, Conservation and Conservation) committee.  She is life trustee and former chairman of the Illinois chapter of The Nature Conservancy (TNC), former chairman of the New York Chapter of TNC, and former vice chairman of TNC’s international Board of Governors. She has presided over two community conservation organizations, authored a nature activity series for children, edited a conservation newsletter for ten years and has been a longtime participant in prairie and savanna restoration. Wendy has led bird walks for more 30 years—in Illinois, New York City, and Washington, D.C.  She and her husband Hank recently moved back to Illinois from Washington.  They have two grown children and are avid hikers, cyclists, and kayakers.