Walsh has written, edited and co-edited 14 books, including studies of the social and cultural detriments of health and illness, the nature and resources of leadership, and the consideration of spiritual dimensions of contemporary life.

Before her Wellesley inauguration in 1994, Walsh was Florence Sprague Norman and Laura Smart Norman Professor at the Harvard School of Public Health, where she chaired the Department of Health and Social Behavior. Prior to joining the Harvard faculty, Walsh was a professor of social and behavioral sciences in the Boston University School of Public Health.

Walsh received her bachelor’s degree in English from Wellesley in 1966, her master’s degree in journalism and her Ph.D. in health policy from Boston University.

Walsh currently serves on the board of directors of the Consortium On Financing Higher Education and is a member of the American Council on Education Commission on International Education. She is a director for the State Street Corporation and a trustee of Amherst College and the WGBH Education Foundation.