The board of trustees of Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, has announced that Andrea Talentino will be the college’s next president. When she takes office on July 1, she will be the only ninth president in the college’s 161-year history.
The college enrolls nearly 2,400 students, almost all of whom are undergraduates. Women make up 55 percent of the student body, according to the most recent data available from the U.S. Department of Education.
“Augustana’s mission and vision reflect what I most care about,” Dr. Talentino said. “I’ve focused on creating an inclusive, holistic, challenging, integrated student experience that offers a real transformational opportunity. Any institution can have internships, study abroad, opportunities for research, but it’s how you put them together, how you create natural connections and meaning between all of them that makes the difference in what’s outstanding and what is ‘just fine,’ and Augustana is committed to being outstanding.”
Dr. Talentino currently serves as provost of Nazareth College in Rochester, New York. Before arriving at Nazareth, Dr. Talentino served as the dean of the College of Liberal Arts at Norwich University in Vermont. Prior to that, she was an associate dean at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey. She also has served on the faculty at Tulane University in New Orleans.
Dr. Talentino’s two research specializations are military intervention and civil conflict, and the Olympics in relation to international politics. She has published extensively, including two books: Military Intervention After the Cold War: The Evolution of Theory and Practice (Ohio University Press, 2005) and Sporting Boundaries, Sporting Events and Commodification (Interdisciplinary Press).
Dr. Talentino earned a bachelor’s degree in political science at Yale University, She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in political science from the University of California, Los Angeles. She also earned an MBA with a concentration in organizational leadership at Norwich University in Vermont.