Women Helping Women

Honoree
Carmen Twillie Ambar
Dean of Douglass College

Carmen Twillie Ambar is the 9th woman to lead Douglass at Rutgers University and the youngest dean appointed in its history. A native of Little Rock, Arkansas, Dean Ambar holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Foreign Service from the Edmund A. Walsh School at Georgetown University, a master’s degree in public affairs from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University and a law degree from Columbia School of Law.

In her role as Dean of Douglass, she has emphasized women’s global leadership by developing a cadre of leadership programs, promoting living-learning communities including creating a human rights unit within the Global Village, and securing substantial increases in study abroad funding. Additionally, she has spearheaded efforts to encourage young women to pursue careers in math, science, and technology. She successfully launched the Douglass Alumnae Recruitment Team (“DART”) along with a reshaping of recruitment efforts that has resulted in a significant increase in the academic profile of Douglass students. During her tenure curricular improvements have included a re-visioning of the first year academic experience and expanded peer and academic advising services. She has also overseen the completion of a $28 million capital campaign. Dean Ambar is also serving as an Associate Vice President at Rutgers University working on a variety of issues surrounding New Jersey State initiatives and women’s education.

Prior to her role as Dean, she was assistant dean for graduate education at the Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University, overseeing the operation of its three graduate programs. In this position she was responsible for many key administrative and academic functions, including curriculum development, management of joint degree programs, and academic support and advising programs for students. She also directed the school’s summer program for undergraduate students of color.

As an attorney, she served as an assistant corporation counsel in the Office of the Corporation Counsel for the City of New York, 1994-98, and participated in several high-profile cases in which she defended the city against constitutional challenges to legislative regulations and also prosecuted criminal violations of the administrative code.

In the early 1990s, she served as a program assistant for Newark Fighting Back Inc., co-writing a successful $3-million proposal to develop a comprehensive approach to reducing the demand for illicit drugs and alcohol in the city of Newark. She also aided in the conceptualization and implementation of more than 75 programs, including drug treatment for women and children, and community policing. She also served as an intern in the governor’s office in her native Arkansas, where she prepared memoranda on various issues for then-Governor Bill Clinton.

Dean Ambar is the prior chair of the Public Leadership Education Network (“PLEN”) Board and formerly the vice-chair of the New Jersey Advisory Commission on the Status of Women. She was appointed by Governor Corzine to the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, and the New Jersey Schools Development Authority-Board of Directors, she is a member of the board of the American Repertory Ballet, the Advisory Board for the American Society of Civil Engineers, and the Liberty Science Learning and Teaching Committee. She is recipient of the Mary Philbrook Award presented by the New Jersey Women’s Political Caucus. She is an honorary inductee of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, was honored at the 2004 Executive Women of New Jersey Salute to the Policy Makers, and is the recipient of the Wynona M. Lipman Award from the State of New Jersey, and the Woodrow Wilson School’s Edward P. Bullard Distinguished Alumnus Award.

She studied at L’Institut de Science Politique in Paris and the Université de Caen in Caen, France, and was an exchange student in Kobe, Japan.