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They run biotech and health care companies, universities and colleges, financial institutions, law firms, transportation and construction powerhouses, and more — they’re the women power players of the Bay State. Responsible for thousands of employees and billions in revenue, the women featured here drive the Massachusetts economy. Meet them in the 2023 installment of this list, created by The Women’s Edge and published annually in the Women & Power issue of the Globe Magazine. Featured on this list is Wellesley College President Paula A. Johnson!

President Paula A. Johnson shares Wellesley College's plan in a post-affirmative action future.

"Palestinians in Gaza have been unable to breathe for a long time. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres showed much courage when he condemned Israel’s “clear violation of international law” in its conflict with the Palestinians. In remarks to the UN Security Council, he appealed for a humanitarian ceasefire 'to make the delivery of aid to Gaza easier and safer and to facili­tate the release of hostages,' writes Africana studies professor Selwyn Cudjoe.

With the Israel-Hamas war escalating, local advocates for American citizens trapped in southern Gaza are expanding efforts to get them out as humanitarian conditions deteriorate. Among them is Ramona Okumura, who has dedicated her life to designing and building prosthetic limbs for children. She volunteered as part of a relief program in Gaza the day Hamas attacked Israel, said her niece, Leah Okumura, professor of biology.  

Salem stores peddle merchandise more overtly tied to pop culture, selling rows upon rows of “authentic” black felt witch hats, Frankenstein masks, broomsticks and “Hocus Pocus” ephemera. “There’s no denying that the media, TV [and] movies have had a huge hand in crystallizing the American vision of what a witch is,” said Julie Walsh, a history of philosophy professor who studies the Salem witch hunts. 

The new federal aid form coincides with a revised funding formula, which is expected to increase aid to most students, especially those from lower-income families, according to a recent report from the Brookings Institution, a nonprofit research organization. The formula expands eligibility to families who earned more than the previous threshold and will provide more funds for students who were eligible for less than the maximum amount, said Phillip Levine, a Wellesley College economics professor who co-authored the Brookings report.

Selwyn Cudjoe, professor of Africana studies, spoke about art and culture in West Africa and the Caribbean at a lecture delivered at the Pa Gya! A Literary Festival in Accra, Ghana.

During an interview on the Jimmy Fallon, Fallon and Bad Bunny mentioned American studies professor Petra Rivera-Rideau's seminar on Bad Bunny (which he would like to take!). Wellesley mention begins at approximately 4:00.

When war broke out in Ukraine last year, Federal Reserve officials were quick to speak about it. “Many of the impacts of the horrific events and what we’re seeing at the moment are beyond the economic ones,” Susan Collins, the current president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, said during an event hosted at Wellesley College earlier this month. Nevertheless, the conflict is something the Fed will take into account in its models that help officials make policy decisions, she said.