Elizabeth Topham Kennan

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Elizabeth Topham Kennan, Ph.D. (Mount Holyoke College, class of 1960) is an American academic who served as president of Mount Holyoke from 1978 - 1995. She also acted as the president of Five Colleges (Massachusetts) inc. from 1985-1994.

After Kennan received her B.A. (summa cum laude) in history from Mount Holyoke, she pursued a second B.A. (subsequently M.A.) at Oxford University which she completed in 1962. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Washington in 1966. She was a professor of medieval history at Catholic University from 1966-1978 before joining Mount Holyoke as president. Upon her retirement from Mount Holyoke in 1995, the Kennan Faculty Chair and Lectureship was established.

In 2000, Kennan co-authored the mystery novel, Overnight Float, with Jill Ker Conway (former president of Smith College). The novel is published under the pen - name Clare Munnings and was their first venture into the mystery genre.

Kennan currently lives in Kentucky with her husband, Michael Burns, professor emeritus in history from Mount Holyoke. They have restored a thoroughbred horse farm on the National Register of Historic Places.