Catharine (Cappy) Bond Hill

As managing director, Catharine (“Cappy”) Bond Hill leads Ithaka S+R’s research and consulting initiatives to broaden access to higher education, reduce costs, and improve student outcomes.

A noted economist whose work focuses on higher education affordability and access, as well as on economic development and reform in Africa, Cappy joined Ithaka S+R in September, 2016. She oversees Ithaka S+R’s program areas, working to help the higher education, library, scholarly communication, and museum communities adapt to the technological and economic context of the 21st century.

From 2006 to 2016, Cappy served as the tenth president of Vassar College. Under her leadership, Vassar reinstated need-blind admissions and replaced loans with grants in financial aid for low-income families. After graduating from Williams College, Cappy earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Brasenose College, University of Oxford, with first-class honors in politics, philosophy, and economics. She completed her Ph.D. in economics at Yale in 1985.