Amy Marcus-Newhall is the 11th president of Scripps College. She began her career as a professor of psychology at Scripps in 1992 and is known for her dynamism and resourcefulness as a leader, and as an advocate for liberal learning and scholarship. Marcus-Newhall served as associate dean of faculty from 2000-06 and vice president for academic affairs and dean of faculty from 2010-23, while twice taking on the role of interim president. She has held leadership roles in the accreditation and diversity and inclusion planning processes at Scripps; contributed to the College’s visibility through initiatives for advancement and alumnae relations; and received several honors, including the prestigious Mary Wig Johnson Faculty Excellence Award for her research, teaching, and service to the College and the YWCA San Gabriel Valley Woman of Achievement in Education award. 

Marcus-Newhall is a founding faculty member of Scripps College Academy, an innovative program of academic enrichment for underserved middle and high school students in the greater Los Angeles area. The yearlong program helps prepare young women for the rigors of college academics and college life and has been so successful that it received the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award in 2010, which was presented in a White House ceremony by First Lady Michelle Obama. Her research explores stereotypes held about and by employed and stay-at-home mothers, intergroup relations and reduction of prejudice, aggressive and hostile behavior, and hate crimes. Her work has been published in numerous scholarly journals and publications, including American Behavioral Scientist, Behavioral Sciences & the Law, Journal of Applied Social Psychology, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, and the Journal of Social Issues. 

Marcus-Newhall earned a BA in psychology and American studies, graduating magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Occidental College. She earned her MA and PhD in social psychology from the University of Southern California.