Ada Lydia Howard (December 19, 1829 - March 3, 1907) was the first president of Wellesley College. She received a postgraduate education under private teachers and went on to teach at Western College, Ohio from 1861-62. She was also the principal of the Female Seminary at Knox College, Illinois from 1866-69. In 1870, she became headmistress of Ivy Hall Seminary, a private school in Bridgeton, N.J. that had been founded in 1861. In 1875 she was chosen by founder Henry Fowle Durant to become the first president of Wellesley College, Mass. This promotion made Howard the first woman president of a college in the world. Here she worked in full harmony with Mr. and Mrs. Durant and her labors in furthering the plans of th