Whitney Soule

In the higher education environment, which continues to experience record levels of anxiety in its student base, Soule is taking a closer look at how academia can reinforce the practice of gratitude to best center individuals—and the characteristics they demonstrate—now and in the future. Working with other Penn luminaries and past TED Talk speakers such as Angela Duckworth and Adam Grant, as well as Martin Seligman—the leading authority in the field of Positive Psychology—Soule debuted a gratitude prompt asking high school applicants to write a thank you note to someone about the positive impact that person made in their life. Led by Soule, the goal of the prompt was to lessen anxiety around the admissions process, and to demonstrate an ability to accept positive influence from others. Additional benefits have included stories of appreciation from high school students and leaders, as well as a campus-wide effort for Penn students to conduct the same exercise on Locust Walk as they move among their classes. 

Soule and her team are also influencing change in the higher education admissions pace through mentoring leaders in higher education, waiving Penn’s $400 deposit fee (which removes a barrier for low-income students), sending application fee waiver codes directly to high school and community organization counselors (this removes another barrier if application costs are prohibitive) and modifying the recommendation requirements (the applicant’s third recommendation can be from any adult they choose). 

Throughout her career, she has also been laser-focused on building greater equity in admissions. One example of this is Soule’s leadership, together with her team, to launch a free online course available to all students and families titled, Applying to College 101 with Heights Philadelphia. The course combines Penn’s admissions expertise with Heights’ college and career experience and includes five modules that will guide students and families of all backgrounds through the college admissions process. This multi-channel approach prepares students for the college search, application and selection process. A Philadelphia Inquirer feature story covered this offering, which has more than 7,300 students enrolled since it was launched in 2023. 

Soule is a member of the Board of Directors of the Common Application and the Chair of the Finance Committee. She also serves on the College Board Enrollment Leaders Group, and on the Advisory Core for the College Board Admissions Research Consortium. She is a member of the Advisory Council of the NACAC Character Focus Initiative, which supports college admissions counseling professionals as they elevate character-related attributes in the admissions process. She recently joined The Forum of Executive Women in the Philadelphia area. 

Soule received the NEACAC (New England Association of College Admissions Counselors) Professional of the Year Award Recipient. In addition, she is a regular speaker on advancing women in higher education leadership, most recently at the NACAC (National Association of College Admissions Counselors) 2023 Conference.

She is regularly quoted in national media outlets such as Bloomberg, Forbes, USA Today and Wall Street Journal, and has had opinion pieces featured in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Dallas Morning News and Grown & Flown.

Prior to her appointment at Penn, she served as Senior Vice President and Dean of Admissions and Student Aid at Bowdoin College. Her leadership at Bowdoin College advanced both diversity and selectivity, with an increasing number of students of color, first-generation students, and students on financial aid. She was also the first woman in her role at Bowdoin College.

Soule began her career in college admissions at her alma mater, Bates College. Positions at Connecticut College and Bowdoin College preceded her tenure at the University of Pennsylvania.

In addition to her bachelor’s degree from Bates College, Soule holds a master’s degree from Harvard University.