DePauw Stories

The DePauw University Board of Trustees has voted unanimously to extend President Lori S. White’s contract through June 30, 2028.

“The Board of Trustees has the highest confidence in President White, who has demonstrated exemplary leadership since she joined DePauw,” said Douglas I. Smith, DePauw board chair. “We are beyond fortunate that she has accepted our offer to lead the university through 2028. Together, we will continue to build on the university’s recent momentum and support her leadership as DePauw moves forward boldly with our distinctive model of a 21st-century liberal arts and sciences university.”

A sampling of White’s accomplishments to date includes:

• Leading DePauw successfully through a global pandemic

• The oversight and launching of a highly collaborative Bold & Gold 2027 strategic plan with four overarching goals: academic renewal; an exemplary student experience; a commitment to institutional equity; and a flourishing university

• Securing transformative gifts to the University, including $40 million in commitments to support DePauw’s School of Business and Leadership

• Building on DePauw’s historic strengths through the establishment of a new three-college model: College of Liberal Arts and Sciences; School of Business and Leadership; and The Creative School

• Enrolling the three largest entering classes to DePauw since 2019

• Positioning DePauw for a strong and sustainable financial future

• Contributing to the national discourse on freedom of expression, including engagements as a member of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Academic Leaders Task Force on Campus Free Expression.

“President Lori White is the model leader who understands and champions the educational experience that students need in a society marked by rapid transformation, robust diversity and an explosion of new industries and careers,” noted Justin Christian ‘95, chair of DePauw’s Presidential Search Committee and founder and CEO of BCForward Corp. 

 Dr. White, who joined DePauw in 2020, is DePauw’s 21st president and the University’s first woman and first person of color in that role. In addition to the presidency, White holds the rank of professor of education studies at DePauw. President White joined DePauw from Washington University in St. Louis, where she was vice chancellor for student affairs. She has more than 43 years of experience in both student-focused leadership and academic roles. Before joining Washington University in 2015, she was vice president for student affairs and clinical professor of education at Southern Methodist University; associate vice president for student affairs at the University of Southern California; associate vice president for student affairs and dean of students at San Diego State University; and assistant vice provost for undergraduate education and director of undergraduate advising at Stanford University.

White earned an undergraduate degree in psychology and English from the University of California, Berkeley, and a doctorate in education administration and policy analysis from Stanford. She also attended Harvard University’s Institute for Management and Leadership in Education and is passionate about the power of the liberal arts. 

A sought-after advocate for the value of a liberal arts and sciences education, President White is a member of several prominent higher education organizations, including the Carnegie Postsecondary Commission, the Institute for Citizens & Scholars’ College Presidents for Civic Preparedness, and the Annapolis Group of Liberal Arts Colleges. She is co-founder of the Liberal Arts Colleges Racial Equity Leadership Alliance and has recently been recognized as one of the nation’s Top 10 Black Higher Ed CEOs to Watch and an Influential Hoosier.