Gretchen Groggel Ralston Appointed Vice President and General Counsel

Smith College President Sarah Willie-LeBreton has appointed Gretchen Groggel Ralston as the college’s vice president and general counsel. Groggel Ralston comes to Smith from Simmons University, a women-focused university in Boston, where she served in a similar role. 

“Smith is joining other leading institutions of higher education with the engagement of a first-rate, in-house higher education attorney to oversee our legal strategy, and I can think of no one better qualified than Gretchen Groggel Ralston,” Willie-LeBreton said. “I am thrilled that Gretchen is joining the Smith community. With her extensive legal expertise and breadth of senior leadership experience, she will be a resource to the entire campus and a valuable asset to the team at a time when higher education faces many legal and regulatory challenges.” 

In her role as the college’s primary legal resource and a key member of the president’s team, Groggel Ralston will provide an overall vision for an array of legal services and counsel as well as the leadership and execution of Smith’s legal strategy.

Groggel Ralston has a bachelor’s degree from Colby College and a J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, where she served as an articles editor for the Berkeley Journal of African-American Law and Policy, as a member of the Ecology Law Quarterly, and as co-president of the Boalt Hall Women’s Association. She was in private practice before joining Simmons.

“I am thrilled to have the opportunity to join the Smith College community, and look forward to working under President Willie-LeBreton's leadership as part of her team,” said Groggel Ralston. “A liberal arts education from Smith is transformative, and the positive impact that Smith and its graduates have on the world is both inspiring and humbling. To serve at an institution with such a rich history and important mission is an honor.”

Groggel Ralston will join the college later this fall.