Biography

Dr. Victoria N. Folse was named the 14th president of Ripon College and began July 1, 2022, as the first woman formally inducted to the role. Upon hire, she also was awarded the rank of Professor of Psychology at Ripon while maintaining the title of Caroline F. Rupert Endowed Chair of Nursing Emerita at Illinois Wesleyan University. Dr. Folse has more than 30 years of higher education experience and 15 years of health care administration experience. She came to Ripon from Illinois Wesleyan where she served in numerous leadership roles, including tenured full professor, Director of the School of Nursing and Health Sciences, Executive Director of Health and Counseling, and Interim Director of the School of Music. She received a B.S.N. from Illinois Wesleyan University in 1986, an M.S. in Psychiatric Nursing from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1989, and a Ph.D. in nursing with a concentration in research from Saint Louis University in 2002. Dr. Folse is a Clinical Nurse Specialist in Adult Psychiatric Nursing, an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse with prescriptive authority, and a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor. She and her husband, Dick, live in Ripon and have an adult daughter, Mason, in Los Angeles, and an adult daughter, Kennedy, and son-in-law, Oleg, in Washington, D.C.