The New Boston University President Is a Renaissance Scholar’s Dream

Most teens dream of celeb encounters. Melissa Gilliam? She spent time as a kid lounging on Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s living room couch (perks of her friend’s mom being a judicial icon). But for this Washington, DC, wunderkind, rubbing elbows with the Notorious RBG was just the opening act. Fresh from her stint as Ohio State’s executive VP and provost, Gilliam’s résumé reads like a renaissance scholar’s dream: college bigwig, educator, research whiz, and doctor who spent her early days as a pediatric and adolescent gynecologist, championing young women’s health. Now steering the ship at Boston University as its president, Gilliam has a boatload of ideas for the future of the school—but if you ask her, the best thing about Boston is simply being surrounded by water.