House Plans: Laverne University

Laverne University

As the first female leader of the University of La Verne, Devorah Lieberman, Ph.D., began her tenure as the University’s 18th President in July 2011. She brings with her a strong research and publication background in intercultural communication and diversity issues in higher education, as well as extensive knowledge and experience in higher education administration.

Her leadership philosophy fully aligns with the mission of the University of La Verne—to provide opportunities for students to achieve their personal goals and to become successful professionals and contributing members of the global community through a student-centered, values-based, and diverse learning environment.

During her tenure at Wagner College she led the strategic development of Civic Innovations, a multi-year effort for which the Corporation for National and Community Service provided significant funding. At La Verne, she is implementing the La Verne Experience which will connect theory to practice among all colleges and campuses, and reach across all curricular, co-curricular and community engagement programs.

In January 2012, she was named to the American Council of Education’s (ACE) Commission on Inclusion and to the Resource Development Committee for the Hispanic Association of Colleges & Universities (HACU). Also in 2012, she joined the Board of Directors for the Los Angeles regional office of the American Jewish Committee. In 2011 Lieberman was appointed to the ACE Network Executive Board as a state liaison for Women in Higher Education and is currently serving a three-year term on the Western Association of Schools & Colleges (WASC) Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges & Universities. She is also a member of the regional Los Angeles County Fair Association.

She has previously served as the chair of the ACE International Collaborative, worked as an ACE Institute Facilitator, acted as an Institutional Representative chair for the New American Colleges & Universities, and sat on the advisory board for the National Review Board for Civic Engagement.

Throughout her administrative career, Lieberman has brought national recognition to the institutions she has been associated with including the ACE “Bringing the World into the Classroom” award, the Washington Center “Higher Education Civic Engagement Award,” and the TIAA-CREF “Theodore M. Hesburgh Award for Excellence.”