Dr. R. Lorraine (Laurie) Bernotsky began serving in July 2024 as President of West Chester University (WCU), the largest university in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE). Prior to this role, she served as WCU’s Executive Vice President (EVP) and Provost, Associate Provost, and Graduate Dean, having started her career there as a member of the faculty. For the past year and a half, she served as an executive on loan from the PASSHE Office of the Chancellor to Pennsylvania Western University (PennWest), where she supported the transition of three PASSHE universities into one integrated institution, serving in the role of Interim President. At PennWest, she developed a blueprint for financial sustainability, including milestones to track progress, identified over $20 million in savings/cost avoidance over four years, and reorganized academic colleges and departments to better meet the needs of students across the campuses and maintain/expand academic program choice.
In her administrative roles, Dr. Bernotsky played a key part in the system redesign work and financial sustainability efforts of PASSHE, as well as leading the development of a critical needs process for allocating new resources and reallocating existing resources on her own campus. As part of that work, she did an analysis and refinement of university reserve practices and freed up over $6 million to add to base operations to fund institutional priorities. At WCU, she also facilitated the development of the institution’s first doctoral degrees, as well as the development of the first engineering program (biomedical engineering) and the physician’s assistant program. Having served as WCU’s Chief Budget Officer in her role as EVP and as Chief Academic Officer in her role as Provost, she has assisted other institutions with developing pathways to financial sustainability by connecting these two critical areas of the university’s finances, and she has served as a consultant for over 25 years.
As the founder and first director of WCU's Center for Social and Economic Policy Research, Dr. Bernotsky’s efforts in development yielded millions in funding from state, foundation, corporate, and nonprofit sources to sustain the Center's research activities. The Center has strong connections with government and nonprofit organizations in the region and has prepared and disseminated dozens of technical research reports, incorporating students into the research work performed.
Dr. Bernotsky earned an M.Phil. and a D.Phil. in Politics from the University of Oxford and an M.A. in Sociology from Temple University. She has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in politics, research methods, and public administration. Her research interests and publications include women in politics, race, class and gender theory, economic development, and teaching and learning. Her community and professional activities include founding WCU's Legislative Fellows program, serving on the Executive Committee of the Chester County Economic Development Council and its Board of Directors as well as serving on the Board of the Chester County Hospital (Penn Medicine).