Office of the President

Dr. Lorraine Bernotsky

Incoming President, West Chester University

After an extensive search process for its new president, focused on a sole candidate, West Chester University chose a familiar face: Dr. Laurie Bernotsky, who’s worked at WCU for 27 years, most recently as Executive Vice President and Provost. She will be the university’s 16th president and second woman president, effective July 1. A first-generation college graduate, Bernotsky knows firsthand the importance of public higher education and has dedicated her career to improving it.

Raised in a working-class family in rural eastern Pennsylvania, Bernotsky and her sisters spent summers picking vegetables in the garden with their mother. In winter, they cut wood with their father. “Looking back, having that work ethic from a young age served me well in my career,” Bernotsky reflects.

Though Bernotsky’s parents couldn’t go to college, they wanted their daughters to attend. “My parents believed in the transformative power of education,” Bernotsky says. She attended Messiah College (now Messiah University) on scholarship, starting in pre-med. “I didn’t know anyone who went to college,” Bernotsky says. “I thought, you went to college to become a doctor or a lawyer.” After struggling with organic chemistry, she decided to become a lawyer, changing her major to political science.

It was then that Bernotsky met her undergraduate mentor, a political science professor earning his doctorate from Oxford University. He hired Bernotsky to type his dissertation and encouraged her to debate him. As Bernotsky prepared for her LSATs, he asked why she wanted to be a lawyer. “I didn’t know what to say,” Bernotsky recalls. He suggested becoming a professor, something Bernotsky had never considered. She went on to Oxford herself and became a political science professor at WCU.

Bernotsky considers her most significant achievements to be the bookends of her career. The first is her doctoral dissertation, which she defended in England during her first semester at WCU. The second is her appointment as President of WCU. The process involved feedback from executives, faculty, students and alumni. “In that moment, hundreds of peers had to pass judgment on whether I should fill the position,” Bernotsky says.

For nearly two years, Bernotsky has served at Pennsylvania Western University, first as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, then as interim President since March 2023. When she returns to WCU, she plans to spend time listening to students, faculty and staff. Looking forward, she aims to improve student success by closing equity gaps, which includes improving student support structures and increasing financial accessibility. She also hopes to move WCU toward becoming a national leader in higher education.

As a leader, Bernotsky has had to make tough and sometimes unpopular decisions. But underlying it all is something her father taught her: treating others with dignity, value and respect. It reminds her of a quote attributed to Maya Angelou: “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

To Future Women Leaders

“Especially for first-generation college women, it’s important to know that you’re more talented than you think you are. When you grow up working class, you’re socialized to do what you’re told and follow instructions, not think outside the box. Be open to new opportunities — they come in all shapes and sizes. Think about your career as a journey, rather than each job or role being a destination.”