Pareena Lawrence Named the 12th President of Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia

Pareena Lawrence was named the 12th president of Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia. Dr. Lawrence will succeed Nancy Oliver Gray, who will retire in June after serving as president of the women’s college since 2005.

Dr. Lawrence is the provost and chief academic officer at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois. Augustana College enrolls about 2,500 students and women are 58 percent of the student body. Hollins University enrolls about 800 students.

Before being named provost at Augustana College, Dr. Lawrence was a professor of economics and management and chair of the division of social sciences at the University of Minnesota at Morris. Dr. Lawrence holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Delhi in India. She earned a second master’s degree and a Ph.D. in economics at Purdue University.

“I am honored and delighted to join the Hollins community,” Dr. Lawrence said, “and I look forward to building on the tradition of excellence at the university. It wasn’t until I was contemplating the presidency of Hollins that it hit me that everything in my life, each experience was preparing me for this extraordinary opportunity.”