Susan Traverso, a career educator and former provost at Elizabethtown College, took over Monday as president of Thiel College, becoming the first woman to hold that office in the school’s 150-year history.

Ms. Traverso, chosen for the presidency in May, is the college’s 20th chief executive.

At Elizabethtown, Ms. Traverso served beginning in 2007 as the school’s provost and senior vice president and was also a professor of history, officials said.

Before coming to Elizabethtown, she was dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and associate history professor at the University of Redlands in Redlands, Calif.; director of the Associated New American Colleges Academy; and associate professor and chair of history at North Central College in Naperville, Ill., according to biographical information provided by Thiel officials.

She also served in the U.S. Peace Corps in Morocco, Yemen and Bulgaria.

Ms. Traverso, 57, earned master’s and doctoral degrees in history from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1989 and 1995, respectively, Thiel officials said. She holds a bachelor’s degree in history and communications from Simmons College in Boston, which she graduated from in 1983.

Ms. Traverso said Monday she will work to continue Thiel’s success in areas including recent fundraising that supports scholarships and other campus improvements.

She said what interested her about the institution was its record of offering opportunities to first-generation and other students who otherwise might not have such an opportunity, its blending of liberal arts and professional preparation, and a faculty and staff dedicated to their work in a rural residential setting.

“[Thiel] could be better known for the good work that it is doing, not only in this region but across the Commonwealth” and beyond, she said.

“It is both a privilege and pleasure to welcome Dr. Susan Traverso,” Thiel trustees chairman Barry Stamm said in a statement released by the college. “With Dr. Traverso’s extensive background in higher education, collaborative leadership style and many impressive academic accomplishments, she was the unanimous choice of the Board and overwhelming favorite of the College community.”

Ms. Traverso succeeds Troy VanAken, who in April announced his departure for the presidency of Elmhurst College in Elmhurst, Ill.

Ms. Traverso and her husband, Kent Taylor, are parents of Linden and Kent.

Thiel, a private liberal arts college, has about 900 students. It is in Greenville, Mercer County.

Bill Schackner: bschackner@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1977 and on Twitter: @BschacknerPG.

First Published: August 1, 2016, 5:56 p.m.