The Baldwin School Appoints Dr. Atiya S. Love as Director of DEIB

The Baldwin School is thrilled to announce that Dr. Atiya S. Love will join our community as the new Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) beginning this July. Dr. Love was selected after an extensive national search and brings more than 15 years of experience building belonging-centered communities across Pre-K – 12, higher education, and community-based settings.

 

In her current role as an Assistant Professor in the Center of Education and a Director in the Higher Education Leadership Program at Widener University, Dr. Love provides strategic leadership for graduate programs, designs equity-centered learning environments, and implements data-informed systems to support student success and persistence. Her distinguished career also includes serving as the Assistant Director of Student Multicultural Affairs at Villanova University, where she led multicultural education initiatives, designed cultural programming and leadership development experiences, and fostered partnerships that strengthened pathways of belonging across a diverse campus community.

 

Dr. Love completed her postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania, where she focused on student retention and belonging, further developing her expertise in student mentoring, translating research into inclusive institutional practices, and connecting students and families with essential resources. She is also a published scholar whose work has appeared in peer-reviewed publications, including the Peabody Journal of Education.

 

What makes Dr. Love such a compelling fit for Baldwin is the depth of her commitment to intellectual pluralism, a value central to the School’s mission of developing confident leaders. In her own words, she sees the ability to “analyze differing viewpoints, hold complexity, and engage respectfully” as foundational not only to DEIB work, but to preparing girls to lead in an interconnected world. She is a first-generation college graduate who grew up in an under-resourced area of Philadelphia, and her lived experience animates a profound belief in the transformative power of a nurturing, intellectually vibrant educational environment.

 

In her new role, Dr. Love will provide strategic leadership to advance the “Cultivating Community” pillar of the Brilliance of Baldwin strategic plan. Throughout the search process, our community was consistently struck by her warmth, her relational approach, and her genuine passion for connecting with every student and family.

 

Dr. Love holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Theory, Organization, and Policy in Education from Rutgers University, a Master of Education in Social and Philosophical Foundations of Education, also from Rutgers, and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Pittsburgh. She recently completed a certification in Fostering a Culture of Belonging from the Association of College and University Educators.  

  

We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Love into the Baldwin community in July and look forward to the meaningful and lasting contributions she will bring to our girls, our community, and our shared mission.