The board of governors of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education has named Dale-Elizabeth Pehrsson as the seventeenth president of Clarion University. She will take office on July 1.
Clarion University, in western Pennsylvania, was founded in 1887 as the Clarion Normal School. It became a university in 1983. It is one of 14 campuses of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. Clarion University enrolls more than 4,300 undergraduate students and nearly 900 graduate students. Women make up 64 percent of the undergraduate student body.
In accepting the appointment, Dr. Pehrsson said that “I will seek and welcome advice and support from all constituents. Clarion University has a strong reputation and I look forward to building on our long tradition of excellent teaching and service to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.”
Since 2012, Dr. Pehrsson has been serving as dean of the College of Education and Human Services at Central Michigan University. Earlier, she served on the faculty at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Oregon State University, and Sam Houston State University in Texas. She began her academic career in 1991 as a clinical supervisor for counselor education at Idaho State University.
A graduate of the University at Albany of the State University of New York System, Dr. Pehrsson holds two master’s degrees and a doctorate in counselor education and counseling from Idaho State University.