Barnard College has named a Harvard professor and author, Debora Spar, as its 11th president, the school announced today.

Ms. Spar, a professor of business and government at Harvard Business School and a senior associate dean for faculty research and development there, succeeds Judith Shapiro. She will assume the role on July 1.

Ms. Shapiro served as president of Barnard, a women’s liberal arts school in Morningside Heights, for 14 years before announcing in April her intention to step down.

In a statement announcing the appointment, the chair of Barnard’s Board of Trustees, Anna Quindlen, said Ms. Spar embodies the characteristics of a “charismatic intellectual deeply committed to the value of single-sex education for women.”

“The members of the search committee were continually impressed by her prodigious intellect, her global expertise, her ability to build consensus and introduce innovation, and her devotion to acting as mentor and resource for female faculty and students,” a co-chair of the search committee, Helene Kaplan, said.

A graduate of Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, Ms. Spar, 44, earned a doctorate in government at Harvard. She taught at the University of Toronto before returning to Harvard in 1991. As senior associate dean, she was responsible for allocating nearly $20 million in research funds.

“Barnard College offers something that is increasingly hard to find in our world yet increasingly important: an intense and intimate liberal arts environment devoted solely to the education of women,” Ms. Spar said in a statement.

Ms. Spar’s most recent book, “The Baby Business” documented social and governmental issues surrounding the reproductive technology.

Founded in 1889, Barnard is affiliated with Columbia University. The college has 2,390 undergraduate students and 319 faculty members.