Dr. Radha Pyati, Chancellor of Penn State Berks

Dr. Radha Pyati assumed the role of Chancellor of Penn State Berks in July 2023. In this position, she is responsible for all aspects of college administration. Previously, Pyati served as the Dean of the College of Sciences and Mathematics at West Chester University. She is an accomplished researcher, teacher, chemist, author, award-winning environmentalist, and a leader in STEM education.

Statewide media organization City & State PA recently recognized Pyati as one of its 2024 Trailblazers in Higher Education. City & State PA is a multimedia news firm that provides nonpartisan coverage of Pennsylvania’s state and local government, political, and advocacy news. In addition, Lehigh Valley Business featured Pyati in this year’s Education Power List, which includes 25 area leaders across the education industry in the Lehigh Valley.

Throughout her career, Pyati has been committed to promoting diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in education. In her current role as Chancellor of Penn State Berks, one of her goals is for Penn State Berks to serve Berks County’s growing Hispanic and Latino population in a wide range of ways.

Pyati’s leadership at Penn State Berks is marked by her dedication to enhancing student outcomes and fostering an inclusive academic environment. She has also been involved in various community and external relations, building partnerships with federal and state legislators.

While at West Chester University, Pyati was awarded a four-week Fulbright Specialist grant to share chemistry education expertise with the students, faculty and staff at the University of Đà Nẵng – University of Science and Education in Vietnam from December 7 – January 5, 2023.

In addition, Pyati founded West Chester’s Center for STEM Inclusion. In January 2023, the Center of STEM Inclusion received a $716,000 Community Project Funding federal grant for a project titled ‘West Chester University Moon Shot: I Want to STEM (sciences, technology, engineering, and mathematics)!’

Prior to her role at West Chester, Pyati served as director of the Environmental Center at the University of North Florida, where she was the principal investigator on the State of the River Report for Lower St. Johns River Basin, for which she won the 2018 City of Jacksonville Environmental Protection Board Award of Merit. She also served as chemistry department chair, professor of chemistry, president of the Faculty Association and UNF trustee. Previously, Pyati was an associate professor at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.

Pyati holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Ohio State University and a doctoral degree in chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. An accomplished researcher, she has authored more than 40 papers, book chapters, and reports in chemistry and environmental science and participated in over 30 research projects as a principal investigator.

Education

Ph.D., Chemistry – University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

B.S., Chemistry – Ohio State University

Dr. Susan Looney, President of Reading Area Community College

Dr. Susan Looney took office as the sixth president of Reading Area Community College on July 1, 2018. Dr. Looney came to RACC in 2014 as dean of instruction. In 2015 she was appointed to the senior vice president of academic affairs/provost.

Prior to RACC, Dr. Looney served several faculty and staff roles at Delaware Technical Community College in Wilmington Delaware; and as business coordinator and interim vice president for academic affairs at Colorado Mountain College, a two-year public college with multiple campuses in western Colorado.

Dr. Looney completed her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and her MBA at Monmouth University in New Jersey. She obtained her Juris Doctorate at Widener University School of Law in Delaware, and completed her Doctorate in Education, specializing in Higher Education Leadership at Nova Southeastern University in Florida.

She is the chair of the Reading Hospital Board of Trustees, and serves on the boards of Berks Latino Workforce Development, United Way of Berks County, the Berks Alliance, the Greater Reading Chamber Alliance and the Greater Berks Development Fund. Nationally, she is a member of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) Commission on Student Success and is a member of the Executive Committee for the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.

Glynis A. Fitzgerald, Ph.D., President of Alvernia University

Glynis A. Fitzgerald, Ph.D. is the President of Alvernia University, where she became the institution’s eighth president—and its first female lay leader—in July 2023. With over 25 years of experience in higher education, she previously served as Senior Vice President and Provost at Alvernia, and held leadership roles at Central Connecticut State University, including Dean of Graduate Studies and Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs.

Dr. Fitzgerald holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in Organizational Communication from the University at Buffalo and a B.A. in Speech Communication from Edinboro University.

She is passionate about building institutions that empower students and communities, and she believes in collaborative leadership grounded in data, empathy, and vision.

Debra M. Townsley, Ph.D., President of Albright College

With more than 40 years of higher education experience, Debra M. Townsley, Ph.D. has filled the roles of president, interim president, academic dean, department chair, and business professor at institutions in five states. Specializing in identifying and implementing a strategic vision and plan for long-term institutional success, she is a transformational leader with experience in controlling spending while increasing enrollment and fundraising.In addition to authoring books and articles, she has lectured on topics that include the state and future of higher education, external factors facing higher education and college presidents, and conducting a turnaround.

During her five years as president of William Peace University (Raleigh, North Carolina), the university became co-educational and financially sound. She served as president of Nichols College (Dudley, Massachusetts) for a dozen years prior to William Peace, where she conducted two comprehensive campaigns, raising a total of $28 million. One campaign was the largest in the school’s history, and both exceeded goals by more than $2 million.She has since created strategic plans and improved operations, systems and financials as president of Wheeling Jesuit University (Wheeling, W.Va.) and Laboure College (Milton, Massachusetts).Townsley’s business career began with IBM and Booz, Allen & Hamilton before making the switch to teaching at Marymount University (Arlington, Virginia). Three years later, she was named assistant professor and chair of Northern Virginia Community College’s Accounting and Data Processing departments, and assistant professor of business. She also served as director of undergraduate and graduate management studies at St. Michael’s College (Colchester, Vermont).

Buffet opens at 11:30 AM.

Members- $30.00
Non-members – $35.00
Students – $15.00
Non-eaters – $10.00

Women in College/University Leadership

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