Dr. Jamie D. Motley (She/Her/Hers) is the inaugural Director of the Office of Student Success, which develops and implements programs and services that support Wellesley’s first-generation college student population. She has a wealth of experience in this area, having gotten her start as a graduate assistant and counselor for TRIO-Student Support Services at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she earned both her M.Ed. in Higher Education Administration and Ph.D. in Educational Policy Studies. In addition to her graduate degrees, Dr. Motley holds a B.A. degree in Journalism from Western Illinois University.

Born and raised in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago, IL, Dr. Motley has held leadership positions at multiple colleges and universities in Illinois, Georgia, Alabama, and Missouri. She worked at Saint Louis University from 2014-2021 as a member of the TRIO-Student Support Services staff and was subsequently promoted to the role of director for the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program, commonly referred to as the McNair Scholars Program. In that role, she was charged with breathing life into the newly awarded grant by hiring a team of staff, recruiting McNair Scholars and Faculty Mentors, advertising the program widely, and establishing partnerships with the six universities that SLU’s McNair Scholars Program (SLU McNair) was funded to serve. She also became a regular contributor for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and submitted content that highlighted the success of SLU McNair and its Scholars.

After relocating to Boston in 2021, Dr. Motley worked at Boston College as Special Assistant to the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Affairs, where she provided support to the Gateway Scholars Program for STEM, the Learning to Learn Office, and First-Year Advising. 

Dr. Motley still celebrates, supports, and mentors many of her former students as they navigate their way through graduate school and professional careers.