When Devorah Lieberman first read the University of La Verne’s mission statement, she immediately noticed a common thread: Everything about the institution is focused on student success.

Lieberman, a nationally recognized academic leader and award-winning educator, knew the values that were first instilled in her growing up in Covina and honed in her 33-year career in higher education were consistent with those of the university.

Described as an engaging and passionate leader, Lieberman has the distinction of being the first female president in the University of La Verne’s 119-year history. She succeeds Stephen C. Morgan, who retired after 26 years as president and who has described Lieberman as “the kind of person who lights up a room when she walks in.”

Devorah Lieberman grew up in nearby Covina and is the first female president in the history of the University of La Verne.

Lieberman said she admires what La Verne stands for and commends the institution’s commitment to diversity, quality of life for students, faculty and staff, engagement, community service and empowerment of first-generation college students.

“Here is an institution that speaks to my heart, that values what I value,” she said.

When Lieberman read the mission statement and learned more about La Verne, she knew it was a good fit. For her, students always come first.

“It felt to me when I went through this process that they were choosing me as their next president and I was choosing them,” she said. “It was an institution and an individual choosing each other.”

The Board of Trustees picked Lieberman after an intensive, 10-month national search. She has been recognized for promoting national initiatives including institutional transformation, balancing graduate and liberal education, student and faculty development, internationalization and diversity.

Board Chair Luis Faura said Lieberman’s selection was a significant achievement for the university.

“Throughout her career she has fostered personal learning experiences for students, promoted expanded multicultural and diversity education opportunities, pioneered programs designed to support faculty development and research, and advanced the scholarship of civic engagement,” Faura said.

At her introductory visit in December, Lieberman sat down to lunch with La Verne students to get to know some of them and to listen to their concerns.

Lieberman recently left her role as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Wagner College, a private comprehensive liberal arts institution in Staten Island, N.Y.

At Wagner, Lieberman administered all academic, curricular and student-related elements.

Under her direction, ethnic diversity of entering students at Wagner rose sharply, the overall student enrollment changed from featuring primarily in-state residents to having the majority of students come from outside New York state, and the student retention rate between the freshman and sophomore years increased to nearly 90 percent. All of this occurred while financial support for faculty research and scholarship increased dramatically.

Prior to her time at Wagner, Lieberman spent more than 16 years at Portland State University in Oregon as both a faculty member in the Department of Communication Studies and an administrator. During her final four years she was vice provost and special assistant to the university president. In 2000, she was honored as Oregon Professor of the Year, awarded by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. She also received the 1999 Distinguished Faculty Award from the Portland State Alumni Association.

While at Portland State, Lieberman extended the Oregon Leadership Institute to become a statewide mentoring program for Latino students, helping them to successfully graduate from high school and enroll in college.

She was part of a transformation team that created an innovative education program that earned the university national recognition. That led her to Wagner College, where she expanded upon and deepened elements of a curriculum that unites focused learning and practical application.

At La Verne, there is an opportunity to create what Lieberman calls the “La Verne Experience,” an interdisciplinary curriculum that will be threaded through all programs and campuses of the institution and will include components of reflection and giving back to the community.

Lieberman stopped for a photo with Peggy Redman '60, '87, '91, Adeline Cardenas-Clague '86 and Loretta Rahmani '94.

“I think this will be a remarkable model that campuses around the country can look at and say, ‘We can learn from this and we can adapt a “La Verne Experience”’ and I think that will give the institution national distinction,” she said. It is her dream, she said, to have that begin incrementally in fall of 2012 with that freshman class.

Lieberman returned to La Verne several times since her presidency was announced. She spent a week on the campus in March during Morgan Auditorium dedication week, attending each one of the celebrations.

“I got such an understanding of the community, the faculty, the staff, the students and the love for this institution,” she said. She also was impressed by the faculty’s dedication to their own scholarship and to their students. And she commended Morgan for his guidance, adding that many presidents as they transition out don’t take the time, energy and care to counsel the incoming president.

“His mentoring since Dec. 8 — and I’m sure after I take office — symbolizes the same values that ground this institution,” she said.

Lieberman already has left a distinct impression on those she has met.

“I think she is really amazing,” said junior Michael Phillips, who dined with Lieberman during one of her campus visits. “I felt like she was very student-centered and she really cared about what we thought. She was interested in our lives as well. She wanted to help better our education here and make La Verne more recognized for the great things it does. I thought that was very important. I really liked her. I think she’s going to be great for the university.”

Daniel Loera, Multicultural Affairs Director, described Lieberman as a person with “contagious vitality.”

“She is going to create a lot more excitement into the work we undertake here,” Loera said, adding that Lieberman has a lot of passion, focus and vision. “She brings a lot of heart, I think.”

Lieberman’s focus and passion have been shaped by her experiences.

During her undergraduate years, Lieberman spent about 18 months doing experiential learning while living in Israel and Europe.

“I became very aware of how important it was to be a global citizen, even though at the time I didn’t know the phrase ‘global citizen,’” she said. What she did know, however, was what she wanted to study. She earned her bachelor’s degree and then began a master’s program in intercultural communication.

Lieberman, with her husband, Roger Auerbach, and Emery Lieberman-Auerbach, the younger of her two daughters.

While working on her master’s degree, Lieberman decided she wanted to live in a French-speaking country in Europe. She contacted the Swiss Embassy, which gave her a list of every school in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. She wrote to every school and was hired to teach courses in English to students from around the world. It was one classroom, with students ranging from first grade to eighth grade.

“It was exhilarating and exhausting,” she said.

After a year in Switzerland, Lieberman moved to Greece and applied for two jobs. She was offered both. She stayed there for five years, teaching a variety of subjects.

She returned to the U.S., earned a Ph.D. in Intercultural Communication/Gerontology from the University of Florida and taught for many years. She then became an administrator but has continued to teach. She said she takes pride in being a scholar.

Lieberman said La Verne’s values capture exactly what she thinks institutions of higher learning should be doing. She is impressed by the university’s breadth of courses and programs, diversity of its students and commitment to lifelong learning, among other things.

Lieberman would like to take the first academic year to put together a strategic plan to take the university to the next level and plans on working closely with the campus community and the Board of Trustees.

Lieberman said La Verne alumni should be very proud to have graduated from the university because they received a quality education. She anticipates spending a lot of time with them locally and nationally and said she would like alumni to get connected or strengthen their connection because they are a tremendous resource to the institution and to students.

She said it’s important to reflect on significant experiences and think about people who helped shape values and choices, professionally or personally. It’s also important to let those people know the impact they had, she said.

“We often only experience the present and look to the future without letting those along our paths know the influence they had,” Lieberman said. “I hope that the La Verne alumni stay in contact with those La Verne faculty and staff who served as these pivotal and influential individuals.”

Lieberman and her husband, Roger Auerbach — who was a senior policy adviser to former Oregon Governor Barbara Roberts and who is now the principal of Auerbach Consulting — have two daughters.

Allie Lieberman-Auerbach is a research analyst for RTI International in Raleigh, N.C. Emery Lieberman-Auerbach will be a sophomore at Scripps College in Claremont – 3.9 miles away from the University of La Verne.

Emery, who had been thinking about staying on the East Coast to attend college, jokingly told her mother that in choosing Scripps, she thought she was going be 3,000 miles away from home. It was all meant to be, Lieberman said.

“We both laughed and realized it was really a blessing in disguise,” Lieberman said of her daughter’s college choice. “Now three quarters of the family is in Southern California.”

By David Allen, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin 4/23/2011

JUST IN time for Easter, marshmallow Peeps candies have taken over the University of La Verne campus.

“We bought 3,000 of them,” school spokesman Charles Bentley told me. And the rock outside Founders Hall was painted yellow last week and outfitted with a beak.

The spongy, bird-shaped candies are being given to students as part of a promotional campaign involving incoming President Devorah Lieberman’s Twitter account.

How could students be enticed to follow Lieberman on Twitter? Bentley credits staffer Amanda Hanson for suggesting: “You know the little yellow Peeps candies? What if we invite students to be her `peeps’ on Twitter?”

And thus was launched Lieberman’s “Be my peep on Twitter” drive.

Lieberman, who will start July 1, wants to immerse herself in campus life despite being based in Long Island – 3,000 miles away – until then.

She’s been tweeting since her hiring in December and as of Thursday was up to 198 followers.

Among her recent messages:

* “Learning how to use my new iPad! Technology can be your friend (usually).”

* “How are my ULVPeeps doing on this beautiful Sunday?”

* “Bitter cold in New York City. Waiting for spring to appear. And to meet incoming peeps.”

There’s a playful video on YouTube for the promotion in which Bentley and others pretend to brainstorm ideas on how Lieberman can connect with students, followed by a vignette in which Lieberman acts on them.

One person says Lieberman should phone each student individually.

We then see Lieberman phoning a student, who is pulled over by police for talking on her cell phone while driving.

“Is this an inconvenient time for you to talk?” Lieberman asks.

Another person suggests Lieberman write a letter to each student. Then we see her at her desk, a tower of letters beside her. She signs her name to one.

“Seventy-seven down, 1,923 to go,” she sighs.

Electronic communication is a little simpler. As Lieberman says on the video: “It’s sweet to tweet, so take the leap and be my peep.”

Do what she says. She’s the prez.

Devorah Lieberman, a nationally recognized academic leader and award-winning educator, has been selected by the Board of Trustees to be the 18 th President of the University of La Verne. Lieberman will be the first female president in the university’s 119-year history when she takes office on July 1, 2011.

The trustees’ recent decision, which concluded an intensive 10-month national search, was announced today by Board Chair Luis Faura.

“Dr. Devorah Lieberman is an innovative, accomplished administrator with a national reputation as a transformational leader. Her selection as the 18th president of the University of La Verne is a significant achievement for this institution,” Faura said. “Throughout her career she has fostered personal learning experiences for students, promoted expanded multicultural and diversity education opportunities, pioneered programs designed to support faculty development and research, and advanced the scholarship of civic engagement. The Board of Trustees is confident she will pilot this university to great achievements and prominence.”

Becoming president at La Verne is the latest achievement in Lieberman’s 33-year career in higher education. She has established herself as an engaged and collaborative administrator as well as an enthusiastic and exceptional educator. Since January 2004 she has served as provost and vice president for Academic Affairs at Wagner College, a private comprehensive liberal arts institution in Staten Island, N.Y.

Lieberman said she is honored to be selected to the La Verne presidency and looks forward to furthering the successful goals and objectives already established at the university.

“I am honored to serve as the 18th president of the University of La Verne. I believe that the values and mission that provide for the foundation for this university reflect the very best of a private liberal education,” Lieberman said. “I look forward to working closely with the entire university community in our combined efforts to create an environment where all students, faculty and staff can achieve their greatest potential.”

Lieberman will officially assume the position following the retirement of President Stephen C. Morgan on June 30, 2011. Until then she will continue her administrative duties at Wagner. She plans to return to La Verne multiple times before the end of the 2010-11 academic year to meet with members of the campus community, expand her knowledge of the university and work closely with Morgan and others to prepare for a seamless transition.

 Morgan is La Verne’s longest tenured president, having served 26 years as the leader of his alma mater. Upon learning of the selection of Lieberman to succeed him, he applauded the board’s decision and offered his support for the university’s next president.

“Choosing a person to be a leader is an important and challenging assignment. In selecting Dr. Devorah Lieberman, a remarkable academic senior administrator and engaged educator, our Trustees have made an exceptional decision that will benefit La Verne for many years to come,” Morgan said. “Dr. Lieberman shares La Verne’s values and brings a great deal of experience along with tremendous enthusiasm to the position. She is the right person to take this university to new heights and build upon its excellent educational legacy.”

Her peers have recognized Lieberman for promoting national initiatives including institutional transformation, balancing graduate and liberal education, student and faculty development, internationalization and diversity. She has been regularly published in higher education books, journals and periodicals, and has made presentations at a variety of venues throughout the country and worldwide. From 2002-05 she was one of 13 national scholars selected to participate in the Project on the Future of Higher Education, a three-year institute addressing national issues in higher education including budget reduction, increasing student learning and maintaining faculty vitality.

Topping Lieberman’s list of national involvement in higher education are her status as chair of the American Council on Education (ACE) International Collaborative, her work as an ACE Institute Facilitator, her position as Institutional Representative chair for the New American Colleges & Universities, and her serving on an advisory board for the National Review Board for Civic Engagement.

At Wagner, Lieberman has administered all academic, curricular, information technology and student-related elements. Under her direction, the college has seen the ethnic diversity of entering students rise by eight percent, the overall student enrollment switch from featuring primarily in-state residents (65 percent in 2004)) to having the majority of students come from outside New York state (60 percent in 2010), and the student retention rate between the freshman and sophomore years increase to nearly 90 percent. During that same span, financial support for faculty research and scholarship has jumped from $33,000 to $240,000 annually, and participation in the college’s study abroad program has more than tripled to include 25 percent of the student body.

Wagner has received increased national recognition during Lieberman’s tenure. Honors include the 2005 Theodore Hesburgh Award, the 2009 Clinton Global Initiative, the 2010 Washington Center Civic Engagement Award, and for three consecutive years was listed on the Presidential Honor Roll for Community Engagement (2008-10). In its 2010 America’s Best Colleges ratings, U.S. News & World Report magazine ranked Wagner No. 1 in its Regional Universities-North category and listed it among the publication’s “Colleges Committed to Undergraduate Education” and “Up and Coming Colleges.”

Along with her administrative duties, Lieberman has continued to teach. One course – Intercultural Business Communications – she co-taught online with a professor in Athens, Greece, an endeavor that earned Wagner the American Council on Education “Bringing the World into the Classroom” award in 2010.

Lieberman’s involvement in advancement solicitations and grant submissions at Wagner contributed to or funded several substantial institutional efforts, including The Center for Teaching, Learning & Research; The Center for Leadership & Service; student scholarships; endowed faculty positions; international programs; and faculty scholarship and research. Lieberman was principal investigator in grants totaling several million dollars awarded by Corporation for National & Community Service/Learn & Serve; the Teagle Foundation; the Staten Island Foundation; Bringing Theory to Practice; the Association of American Colleges & Universities American Council on Education; and the Richmond County Foundation.

Prior to her time at Wagner, Lieberman spent more than 16 years at Portland State University in Oregon as both a faculty member in the Department of Communication Studies and an administrator. During her final four years she was vice provost and special assistant to the university president. In 2000, she was honored as Oregon Professor of the Year, awarded by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. She also received the 1999 Distinguished Faculty Award from the Portland State Alumni Association.

While at Portland State, Lieberman extended the Oregon Leadership Institute to become a statewide mentoring program for Latino students, helping them to successfully graduate from high school and enroll in college. She also chaired the statewide Board of Directors for the Oregon Council for Hispanic Advancement (OCHA). Her diversity efforts earned her OCHA’s 1995 Si Se Puede Award and its 1998 Amistad Award, as well as the 2003 Las Mujeres de la Raza Award presented by Portland State students and the City of Portland.

La Verne began the search process following Morgan’s February 18, 2010, retirement announcement. The Board of Trustees hired Witt/Kieffer, a national firm specializing in executive searches and dedicated to serving health care, academic medicine, higher education and not-for-profit organizations, to advise and assist with La Verne’s presidential search. At the same time, a presidential search advisory committee was formed to review qualified applicants, conduct interviews and present the Board with selected finalists and accompanying recommendations.

That committee, co-chaired by Trustees Ken Calkins and Emmett Terrell, included five additional Board members as well as individuals representing all four of La Verne’s colleges, the administrative/professional and classified employees, the university’s Coalition for Diversity and the Alumni Governing Board.

Dennis Barden, senior vice president for Witt/Kieffer, directed his firm’s efforts throughout the process.

“The University of La Verne’s presidential search is a textbook example of a national and inclusive search process. Led by a broadly representative and extraordinarily hard-working search committee, the university was able to consider an exceptionally broad and diverse pool of candidates, narrowing them in number from more than 60 to 10 for preliminary interview and from there to four finalists,” Barden said. “The Board was presented with a talented group from which to make a difficult and happy decision on the very best, and was unanimous in its support of Devorah Lieberman as La Verne’s next president. As a result of this thorough process, the university will move ahead with the confidence that they have chosen the best of an extremely strong group of candidates.”

Raised in Covina, Calif., Lieberman earned a bachelor’s degree in Communications Studies from Humboldt State University (1975), a master’s degree in Intercultural Communication (’77) from San Diego State University and a PhD in Intercultural Communication and Gerontology from the University of Florida (’84).

Her husband, Roger Auerbach, received a bachelor’s degree from Alfred University (N.Y.) and a juris doctor from Boston University School of Law. He was a senior policy adviser to former Oregon Governor Barbara Roberts on health, employment and housing policy, and later served as Oregon’s statewide director for senior and disabled services. Currently he is the president of Auerbach Consulting, Inc., and works with  federal and state governments on long-term care issues for older and disabled adults.

They have two daughters. Allie Lieberman-Auerbach earned her bachelor’s degree and graduated with honors from George Washington University and received a master degree in public health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is a research analyst for RTI International in Raleigh, N.C. Emery Lieberman-Auerbach, who graduated with honors from Staten Island Academy (N.Y.) in 2010, is a freshman attending Scripps College in Claremont, Calif.

About the University of La Verne

Founded in 1891, the University of La Verne is a comprehensive, independent university offering bachelors, masters and doctoral programs. Located in Southern California, it is a designated Hispanic-Serving Institution with a student body that mirrors the region’s diversity. As part of its commitment to lifelong learning, La Verne serves both traditional and non-traditional-age students, all receiving a sound, people-centered, values-oriented education. By accentuating learning and leadership, it equips its graduates with the knowledge to make a difference and the confidence to achieve it.