Ashley Pallie, a recognized leader in undergraduate admissions and in the recruitment of historically marginalized students, who is currently the director of recruitment at Pomona College, has been named Caltech's next director of undergraduate admissions.
"Ashley is highly regarded on the national stage, especially for her DEI admissions work. She understands the nuances of recruiting and evaluating candidates from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences," says Jarrid Whitney, assistant vice president for student affairs, enrollment and career services. "Ashley is a proven collaborator who has a track record of working closely with faculty and administrators to further the mission of the offices she has represented."
Pallie will join Caltech on September 13.
"I am thrilled to join the Caltech community and specifically the Office of Undergraduate Admissions," Pallie says. "Having long admired the intellectual and collaborative environment of Caltech, I look forward to building on the great successes of the admissions team in bringing the best and brightest students from around the world to this intimate and innovative community."
Before being named director of recruitment at Pomona, Pallie was the College's associate dean of admissions; prior to that, she spent six years in admissions at Scripps College, where she received her Bachelor of Arts degree. Pallie then earned an MBA from the Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management in Claremont.
Pallie is a member of the College Board Access and Diversity Collaborative's advisory committee, the strategic refresh advisory committee of the Los Angeles Scholars Investment Fund, and the ad hoc committee on serving next-generation college counseling and admission professionals for the National Association for College Admission Counseling.
The search committee that selected Pallie was chaired by Whitney and also included:
- Jared Leadbetter, faculty chair of the Freshman Admissions Committee and professor of environmental biology
- Domniki Asimaki, faculty chair of the Upperclass Admissions Committee and professor of mechanical and civil engineering
- Xie Chen, member of the Freshman Admissions Committee and professor of theoretical physics
- Lesley Nye, interim dean of students
- Malina Chang, director of student financial aid
- Lindsey Malcom-Piqueux (MS '03), assistant vice president for diversity, equity, inclusion, and assessment
- Vanessa Mechem (BS '22), admissions student ambassador