Two Women University Presidents Announce They Are Stepping Down

Dale-Elizabeth Pehrsson, founding president of Pennsylvania Western University, announced that she is transitioning to a new role with the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education as President-in-Residence and CEO for PennWest Investment. She will begin the transition now and will assume the role full-time on July 1, 2023. Pennsylvania Western University was formed by the consolidation of the California, Clarion, and Edinboro campuses of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education.

Dr. Pehrsson because the president of Clarion University of Pennsylvania in 2018 after serving as dean of the College of Education and Human Services at Central Michigan University. Earlier, she served on the faculty at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Oregon State University, and Sam Houston State University in Texas. She began her academic career in 1991 as a clinical supervisor for counselor education at Idaho State University.

A graduate of the University at Albany of the State University of New York System, Dr. Pehrsson holds two master’s degrees and a doctorate in counselor education and counseling from Idaho State University.

Terri Goss Kinzy, president of Illinois State University, has resigned from her post after less than two years on the job. No explanation was given for the resignation. In a joint press release announcing the resignation, the board of trustees and President Kinzy “agree that the parties will not issue further public comments regarding Dr. Kinzy’s separation from employment.”

Before coming to Illinois State, Dr. Kinzy had been serving as a professor of biology and vice president for research and innovation at Western Michigan University. Earlier, she served as vice president of research and professor in the department of biochemistry and molecular biology at Rutgers University in New Jersey and as senior associate dean for the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and Research at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

Dr. Kinzy is a graduate of the University of Akron in Ohio, where she majored in chemistry. She holds a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland and did postdoctoral research at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.