Lisa Marsh Ryerson Named Sixth President of Southern New Hampshire University

Lisa Marsh Ryerson has been named the sixth president of Southern New Hampshire University. Her presidency began on July 1.

Southern New Hampshire University is a primarily online university with a physical campus in Manchester. According to the most recent Department of Education data from 2022, the university enrolls over 140,000 undergraduate students and 23,000 graduate students. Women represent 63 percent of the undergraduate population.

For the past eight years, Ryerson has served as a leader for the SNHU community. She spent six years as a member of the board of trustees, and assumed the role of provost in 2022. Prior to her provost appointment, she spent nine years as president of the AARP Foundation. Her longest tenured position was with Wells College in Aurora, New York, where she served as university president and chief executive officer for 18 years. In this role, she increased enrollment by 45 percent and established the endowed Center for Business and Entrepreneurship.

Ryerson is a first-generation college graduate, earning her bachelor’s degree in English from Wells College in Aurora, New York. She holds a master’s degree in education and literacy from the State University of New York at Cortland, as well as four honorary doctorates from SUNY Cortland, SNHU, the University at Albany, and Dickinson College.