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On September 14, Bryn Mawr lost a legendary member of its community, Elizabeth (Betty) G. Vermey ’58, director emeritus of admissions. 

Born in The Netherlands in 1936, Betty immigrated to the United States with her parents and three older sisters in 1939. She graduated from Northfield Mount Hermon School before enrolling at Bryn Mawr, where she majored in Philosophy. She earned her M.A. from Wesleyan University, completed Ph.D. work at Columbia University, and taught at the Spence School in NYC.

Betty was only the third director of admissions in the history of the College when she was appointed in 1965. Following a 30-year tenure during which she admitted more than 6,300 students—one-third of our living undergraduate alumnae—Betty served for four additional years as director of international initiatives to strengthen connections among alumnae/i living abroad. After retiring from Bryn Mawr in 1999, she worked with the American University of Beirut through the early 2000s as that institution sought to rebuild its regional student body and academic programs.

Under Betty’s leadership, Bryn Mawr became one of the first colleges in the country to participate in the College Search Service when it launched in 1970, enabling the College to reach prospective students from across the country who had never before heard of Bryn Mawr and from a much wider variety of schools.

“Betty was the best recruiter I have ever seen in action,” says Ruth Lindeborg ’80. “Betty was passionately interested in learning about others, and that passion was most intense when she met a young woman who was smart, independent-minded, and cut from a different cloth—in other words, a student whom she thought belonged at Bryn Mawr.” 

Jacqueline Akins ’70, who also worked in the 91���˶������ Office for a number of years, observes that “Betty's curiosity about and pleasure in all things human was contagious and guided her in the admission of thousands of us to the College.  Strong but not tough, she was a mentor who became a dear friend. She changed my life. Knowing her has been my joy and my privilege.”

With support first from then President Harris Wofford and later from President McPherson, Betty also began to travel the world to visit schools and recruit amazing students from around the world before most U.S. colleges had even begun to think about international recruiting. This legacy continues to shape Bryn Mawr’s identity and global reach. 

 “Over the course of her 30 years in the position, Betty really built a talented student body,” says President Emeritus Pat McPherson, “and she kept in touch with an amazing number of those students while in college and she followed their personal and professional lives after college, often entertaining them and their families for years as they came back to Bryn Mawr to visit her. She was a cherished colleague and friend from 1965 on and I shall certainly miss her.” 

Betty cared deeply about the students she recruited, as well as her colleagues and friends. She forged connections among community members and across generations. Long-time friends Professor Emeritus of Sociology Bob Washington and Rose Makofske ’78, MA ‘81, reflect that “with an insatiable curiosity, boundless energy, and a heart of gold, Betty will be remembered by many in this community and the world over for the many different ways in which she affected their lives.”

Betty was an intrepid traveler, especially through Asia, the Middle East, and sub-Saharan Africa.  Among her adventures were hitching rides with truck drivers to travel the Silk Road in China in the mid-1980s; hiking solo through the Hindu Kush; and traveling in Morrocco’s Atlas Mountains. Inevitably, she recruited wonderful students along the way.

The College recognized Betty’s many contributions with the Helen Taft Manning Award in 1999; she later received the Alumnae Association’s Distinguished Service Award in 2018. 

Betty was deeply devoted to her family. She is survived by 10 nieces and nephews, 16 grand nieces and nephews, 28 great nieces and nephews, plus many cousins in the United States and the Netherlands.

Contributions in Betty’s memory can be made to the for International Students at Bryn Mawr.  A memorial service is planned at the College in Spring 2025; details will be shared when available.