Donna Scarboro

Donna has spent her career in teaching and international education. Currently serving as associate provost for International Programs at George Washington University, she is also professorial lecturer in English and a member of the faculty of the University Honors Program. She has a BA in English from Guilford College, where she first encountered silent meeting and Quaker history. After taking a year off to teach at Atlantic City Friends School, Donna completed her MA and PhD at Emory University. While finishing her graduate course work with specialties in Irish literature, film, and British fiction, Donna moved to Washington on a research fellowship. In 1982, she and Ralph Steinhardt were married, and the following year, she joined the English Department at GW. Over the next several years, she accepted administrative responsibilities for a variety of academic programs while continuing to teach at the university. In 1985, Ralph was appointed a professor at GW Law School. A few years later, daughter Ruth and son Tavi began at Sidwell Friends School. Tavi also attended School for Friends in Washington as a preschooler, where Donna was president of the school’s board for the 1992/93 term. She served the Parents Association of Sidwell Friends in a variety of capacities, including membership on the Quaker Life Committee. She was the 2005/06 co-president of the Parents Association. During 1995/96, the family moved to Ireland, where Ralph taught law as a Fulbright Scholar in the Human Rights Center of the National University of Ireland, Galway, and Donna carried out research in a number of Irish and British libraries and continued her administrative work by telecommuting. The children took a leave of absence from Sidwell Friends to attend Schoil Croi Iosa, a public grammar school founded and operated by the Presentation Sisters in Galway. When the family returned to Washington, Donna became responsible for George Washington University’s growing study-abroad programs. She now oversees a number of international strategic efforts for the university and is responsible for study abroad, reciprocal exchange of students and faculty, and international partnerships and collaboration. In 2011/12 she was president of AIEA, an international organization for senior international officers in higher education in the U.S. and throughout the world.