Dr. Cindy R. Jebb, President, Ramapo College of New Jersey

Cindy R. Jebb, Ph.D. became Ramapo College’s fifth president on July 6, 2021. Dr. Jebb retired from the U.S. military after 39 years of service. As the first woman Dean of the Academic Board at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Dr. Jebb’s responsibilities included service as Dean of the Faculty and Chief Advisor on all curricular matters. She provided leadership, management, and supervision to the Academic Division’s approximately $80M annual budget, 869 faculty and staff, 4,400 undergraduate students, and seven academic buildings.

Over the course of her career with West Point as professor, department head, and dean, Dr. Jebb successfully led the complex, diverse, and mission-oriented organization through two crises: the federal hiring freeze that adversely impacted appointed civilian professors and phase one of the COVID 19 pandemic, emerging stronger each time. During these crises, Dr. Jebb reorganized and transformed roles and responsibilities through deliberate functional analyses, best practices of talent management, and strategic planning–all while fostering student achievement.  Among the many results of her leadership at West Point were:

• a transformed Academy schedule and curriculum to foster student growth, and performance evaluation guidelines for promotion and tenure;
• revised academic policies, practices, and graduation requirements that strengthened student learning and assessment;
• collaborating to secure $1.2 billion for West Point’s Academic Building Upgrade Program, which required navigating a complex resource acquisition process, while engaging private donors to contribute more than $38 million to the Academy’s programs over the course of four years; and
• establishment of a first-year book program and the Dean’s Book Club.

Prior to her appointment as Dean, Dr. Jebb fulfilled roles as Director of Comparative Politics and as Professor and Head of the Department of Social Sciences at West Point. In these roles, she led efforts to redesign curriculum, grow student internship opportunities, launch student and faculty mentoring programs, advance diversity and inclusion initiatives, and develop donor support. Further, she co-chaired West Point’s Middle States Accreditation Self Study and assisted in establishing West Point’s Combating Terrorism Center and Conflict and Human Security Studies Program.

A former military intelligence officer, an active member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a well-regarded scholar and instructor, Dr. Jebb has taught courses in Comparative Politics, International Security, International Relations, Cultural Anthropology, Terrorism and Counterterrorism, and Officership. She is the author and co-author of three books, two monographs, and a variety of journal articles, book chapters, and conference papers. Dr. Jebb has also served in command and staff positions at home and abroad; conducted human security research in Africa; and completed study projects in Iraq and Afghanistan. In addition, Dr. Jebb has led and moderated speaking engagements across the globe alongside prominent individuals such as the late Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, presidential advisor David Gergen, Secretary Madeline Albright, and journalist Tom Brokaw.

A native New Yorker, Dr. Jebb earned a B.S. from the United States Military Academy at West Point, a M.A. in Political Science from Duke, an M.A. in National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College, and a Ph.D. in Political Science from Duke University. She is married to Dr. Joel Jebb, and they have four adult children (including their daughter-in-law) and one grandchild.

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