December 09, 2015

Board of Governors appoints interim president for Edinboro University of Pennsylvania

Contact: Kevin Hensil, khensil@passhe.edu

Harrisburg – The Board of Governors of Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education today appointed Dr. David J. Werner, chancellor emeritus of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, to serve as interim president of Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, effective Jan. 19.

The selection of Dr. Werner, who previously served as interim president of both Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Mansfield University of Pennsylvania, was made in consultation with Edinboro University’s Council of Trustees ChairmanDennis Frampton.
“Dr. Werner provided excellent leadership to both IUP and Mansfield while serving as interim president of each institution,” said Board of Governors Chairman Guido M. Pichini. “We are fortunate that he will again serve one of our universities and the State System while we search for a new, permanent president at Edinboro.”
Dr. Werner was chancellor of Southern Illinois Edwardsville from 1997 to 2004. He served as IUP’s interim president from August 2010 to June 2012 and as Mansfield University’s interim president during the 2005-06 academic year. He also was IUP’s interim provost during the spring semester of 2008.
“It is important to retain strong leadership during a period of transition, especially during these challenging times,” said State System Chancellor Frank T. Brogan. “Dr. Werner is a strong leader; Edinboro University will be in good hands.”
Dr. Werner will assume the role of interim president at Edinboro upon the departure of Dr. Julie E. Wollman, who announced last month she will leave the university in January to become president of Widener University near Philadelphia. Dr. Wollman came to Edinboro as president in June 2012.
Prior to the seven years he spent as chancellor of Southern Illinois Edwardsville, Dr. Werner held several other positions at the university, including provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs and dean of the School of Business. He was a professor of management information systems and management in the School of Business from 1974 to 2004 and also spent a semester as a visiting researcher in human resources and public policy development at Ryukoku University in Kyoto, Japan.
Dr. Werner holds a Bachelor of Science degree in industrial engineering from St. Louis University, and both a Master of Science degree and a Ph.D. in industrial engineering and management science from Northwestern University.
Edinboro University had a fall enrollment of 6,550 students, including 5,247 undergraduates and 1,303 graduate students. The university was founded in 1857 as a private training school for teachers and has grown into the northwestern Pennsylvania region’s largest and most comprehensive institution of higher education.
Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education is the largest provider of higher education in the Commonwealth, with about 107,000 degree-seeking students and thousands more who are enrolled in certificate and other career-development programs. Collectively, the 14 universities that comprise the State System offer more than 2,300 degree and certificate programs in more than 530 academic areas. Nearly 520,000 State System university alumni live in Pennsylvania.
The State System universities are Bloomsburg, California, Cheyney, Clarion, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro, Indiana, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock and West Chester Universities of Pennsylvania. The universities also operate branch campuses in Oil City (Clarion), Freeport and Punxsutawney (IUP), and Clearfield (Lock Haven), and offer classes and programs at several regional centers, including the Dixon University Center in Harrisburg and in Center City in Philadelphia.