Catharine "Cappy" Bond Hill is the former president of Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY. She began in 2006, after former president Frances D. Fergusson retired. Before coming to Vassar, Hill was provost at Williams College. In September 2016 she became managing director of Ithaka S+R. Biography After graduating with a BA degree summa cum laude from Williams College in 1976, Hill went to Brasenose College, Oxford, where she received an BA with first class honours and an Oxford MA in philosophy, politics and economics (PPE). She subsequently obtained a PhD degree in economics at Yale University in 1985. In her early career Hill worked for The World Bank (1982–1987) and the Congressional Budget Office (1981–1982). In 1985, however, Hill returned to her alma mater to teach economics, and she began her role as Williams provost in July 1999, holding major financial and academic responsibilities. As chief financial officer of the college, she was responsible for the annual college budget and long-range financial planning, as well as the Controller's office. Hill was also responsible for the Williams College Museum of Art, the Williams College Libraries and the offices of Admissions, Financial Aid and Information Technology. In addition, she was a member of the Committee on Appointments and Promotions, which makes all reappointment and tenure decisions and allocates faculty positions. Hill chaired the Williams economics department from 1997 to 1999, as well as the college's Center for Development Economics from 1992 to 1994. In what Hill has called one of the most transformative experiences of her life, she and her family lived from 1994 to 1997 in the Republic of Zambia, where she was the fiscal/trade advisor and then chief-of-party for the Harvard Institute for International Development's Project on Macroeconomic Reform. She has written widely from her experiences in Africa, including co-editing the books Promoting and Sustaining Economic Reform in Zambia (2004) and the widely reviewed Public Expenditure in Africa (1996). Vassar under Hill Shortly after President Fergusson announced her retirement in 2005, Vassar began an extensive national search for her successor that yielded more than 200 candidates. Of those contenders, the Board of Trustees unanimously selected Hill as the tenth President of Vassar College. Hill succeeded Fergusson on July 1, 2006, and was officially inaugurated in a five-day celebration from October 25–29 that included events for students such as "Cappy and the Chocolate Factory", a party in the Students' Building featuring