Lisa Freeman Becomes First Woman President of Northern Illinois University in DeKalb

Lisa C. Freeman has been appointed as the thirteenth and first woman president of Northern Illinois University in DeKalb. She had been serving as acting president since July 2017. The university has just over 18,000 undergraduate and graduate students. Women make up 50 percent of the undergraduate student body.

Dr. Freeman has worked at Northern Illinois University since 2010 when she was hired as vice president for research and graduate studies. She later served as the university’s executive vice president and provost. Before coming to NIU, she spent 16 years at Kansas State University where she held various positions including associate dean for research and graduate programs at the College of Veterinary Medicine and associate vice president of innovation for Kansas State University-Olathe.

President Freeman holds a bachelor’s degree in biology, a master’s degree in physiology, and doctorate in veterinary medicine from Cornell University and a Ph.D. in pharmacology from Ohio State University.