Anita Gustafson

Anita Olson Gustafson (born March 3, 1961) is an American historian and academic administrator who is the 20th and current president of Presbyterian College in Clinton, South Carolina. She took office on August 1, 2023, and was most recently the dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia.

Early life and education Gustafson was born Anita Ruth Olson on March 3, 1961; she is a native of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. She attended North Park University in Chicago, where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and Swedish, before earning a Master of Arts and a Ph.D. from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. She was named a Northwestern University Dissertation Fellow in 1988.

Career Gustafson began teaching history at Presbyterian College in Clinton, South Carolina, in 1997. She was formally inaugurated on April 26, 2024.

Work and research Gustafson's work focuses largely on the history of Swedish immigration, particularly into the United States, and Swedish-American communities in the United States.

Personal life Gustafson and her husband have one son.