PennWest interim president appointed president of West Chester University
Courtesy of West Chester University
Dr. Lorraine “Laurie” Bernotsky, interim president of Pennsylvania Western University, has been appointed the 16th president of West Chester University.
The board of governors for the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education voted Wednesday to appoint Bernotsky to the position. The appointment takes effect July 1, 2024.
Bernotsky will continue as PennWest’s interim president until the summer. She became PennWest’s chief operating officer in 2022 as a loaned executive from West Chester and was appointed interim president July 1, 2023.
“Dr. Bernotsky has proven at West Chester and PennWest that she is a tremendous university leader and is the perfect person to take WCU into the future,” said Cindy Shapira, West Chester Board of Governors chair. “Throughout her extensive career in PASSHE, Dr. Bernotsky has earned respect for her strategic planning, academic programming and for helping students from all backgrounds have access to a high-quality education in a diverse, vibrant community that prepares them for success in life.”
According to a letter from Kathy L. Pape, chair of the Pennsylvania West Council of Trustees, Bernotsky has a plan in place for the university’s future.
“She has committed to maintaining PennWest’s forward momentum while ensuring a smooth handoff to our university’s next president,” the letter read. “PennWest is actively engaged in the presidential search process.”
A search committee is expected to be fully formed by the end of January.
Bernotsky worked at West Chester for 27 years, starting in 1996 as a faculty member. Most recently, she served as executive vice president and provost, before taking over as interim president at PennWest. She also served as associate provost and dean of the graduate school and founded the university’s Center for Social and Economic Policy Research.
“I am deeply honored and humbled to be selected to serve West Chester University’s students, faculty, staff and alumni as its 16th president,” Bernotsky said on the West Chester website. “I have dedicated my professional life to public higher education because I believe in the access mission of public universities and of public higher education in general; these beliefs fuel my commitment to WCU as well as our entire state system.”