Laurie Stenberg Nichols to Lead Black Hills State University in South Dakota

Laurie Stenberg Nichols has been named interim president at Black Hills State University in Spearfish, South Dakota. The school enrolls about 4,000 undergraduate students, 63 percent of whom are women.

Dr. Nichols has served as the first woman president of the University of Wyoming for the past three years. From 2009 to 2016 she served as provost and vice president for academic affairs at South Dakota State University. She was promoted to this leadership role after serving as dean of family and consumer sciences from 1994 to 2009. In 2008, she was named interim president at Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota.

“I am delighted to be returning to South Dakota to join the leadership team, faculty, staff, and students at Black Hills State University for the next year,” said Dr. Nichols. “I also look forward to returning to the Black Hills, the same region where I started my career as a high school teacher in Hill City some four decades ago. I anticipate a positive and productive year as BHSU searches for its next permanent president.”

Dr. Nichols is a graduate of South Dakota State University where she majored in home economics education. She holds a master’s degree in vocational and adult education from Colorado State University and a Ph.D. in family and consumer sciences education/family studies from Ohio State University.