Cynthia Lightfoothas been named interim chancellor of Pennsylvania State University Brandywine in Media, Pennsylvania. She assumed her new duties on August 1, 2019.
The Brandywine campus enrolls about 1,350 undergraduate students, according to the U.S. Department of Education’s latest data. Women make up only 40 percent of the student body.
Dr. Lightfoot first joined the Penn State Brandywine community in 1998 as an associate professor of human development and family studies. She was named director of academic affairs in July 2014. Over the past five years in this position, she has established the Pathway to Success Summer Start program for incoming students, built teaching-research laboratories for the social sciences, revitalized the STEM Options program for middle and high school girls, launched the Center for Ethics & Civic Engagement, expanded the school’s sustainability efforts and global programming, and pursued an agenda focused on issues of social justice. Earlier in her career, she spent eight years at the State University of New York Plattsburgh as assistant professor and later associate professor.
“As interim chancellor, I’m looking forward to contributing to Brandywine’s long history of advancing student success and Penn State University’s mission of outstanding teaching, scholarship and service,” said Dr. Lightfoot.
Dr. Lightfoot holds three degrees in psychology: a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Santa Cruz, a master’s degree from the University of British Columbia in Canada, and a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.