Williams Appoints Directors of Financial Aid, Admission
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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Williams College has appointed Ashley Bianchi as the director of financial aid and Sulgi Lim as the director of admission.
Bianchi is currently the director of financial aid at Lafayette College and previously worked at Rhodes College and the College of Charleston. Lim currently serves as the deputy director of admission at Williams College, where she has been a member of the college's admission team since 2007.
"I am thrilled about Ashley and Sulgi's appointments," said Elizabeth Creighton, dean of admission and financial aid. "They are tremendously talented, collaborative leaders who care deeply about supporting students and their families. I'm delighted to have the opportunity to partner with them to continue to attract and support the most intellectually engaged, creative, community-minded students from across the nation and around the world. I know the next generation of admission and financial aid at Williams will flourish under their leadership."
Bianchi, who will begin her appointment on July 30, comes to Williams with extensive leadership experience in fostering socioeconomic diversity among student populations, increasing the number of Pell Grant recipients, reducing loan indebtedness, and assisting undocumented students' transitions to college. At Lafayette, she has also played key roles on two Presidential Working Groups, the Student Support Task Force, selecting Posse and Marquis scholars, and serving as a Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment (SASH) advocate.
"From my first days at a liberal arts college looking to benchmark against the best—to my strong desire to be as generous as possible to families who need help paying for college—all signs have pointed to Williams College," Bianchi said. "I love that Williams is ready to adapt and think creatively about how we can make this world-class education, and all the experiences that go along with it, more accessible and obtainable to students regardless of their financial background."
She received her B.A. in educational psychology from Mississippi State and her M.A. in higher education and student affairs from the University of South Carolina.
Lim, a Williams class of 2006 graduate, started her career at McKinsey and Company, before joining the college's admission team. During her tenure, she has provided strategic and operational leadership for student recruitment and selection and played a key role in the college's international recruitment efforts and partnership with QuestBridge. As the architect of the Williams' Slate admission software platform, Lim reimagined how and what information the admission team should capture from internal and external data sources and designed an innovative system that is accessible to users and for reporting and research. She is expected to earn her M.B.A. from Case Western in 2019.
"I truly enjoy finding ways to use patterns or characteristics uncovered from data to gain deeper understanding and inform office processes, decisions and policy," Lim said. "I have a personal appreciation for the transformative experience that Williams provides. It is an honor to lead the college’s dedicated and experienced admission team in the role of director. We will continue to work tirelessly to inspire students and families from all backgrounds to recognize Williams' unique place in higher education."
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