Glynis A. Fitzgerald, Ph.D.
Glynis A. Fitzgerald, Ph.D. began her tenure as Alvernia University's eighth president and first lay female president on July 1, 2023.
Fitzgerald arrived at Alvernia in 2019 with over 20 years of higher education experience as the senior vice president and provost. In her role as the university's chief academic officer, she sharpened the focus of faculty work and student success through the creation of four colleges. She oversaw several other important administrative areas, including information technology, institutional research, and Alvernia's two centers for excellence, the Holleran Center for Community and Global Engagement and the O'Pake Institute for Economic Development and Entrepreneurship. Even in the most difficult economic times, she successfully recruited world-class faculty talent. In addition, she played a major role in the university's strategic efforts to improve student success through transformed pedagogy. Working closely with faculty, staff, and academic advisors, she successfully applied policy and process changes, course redesign, and intrusive advising to significantly impact progression rates, graduation, and employment.
Before joining Alvernia, Fitzgerald served as associate vice president of Academic Affairs and dean of the School of Graduate Studies at Central Connecticut State University. She developed her expertise in undergraduate and graduate program development, expansion of online learning options, and community and corporate partnerships. As a seasoned faculty member, she rose through the ranks to full professor in the department of communication at Central Connecticut State, where she also served as department chair.
Fitzgerald earned a doctoral degree in organizational/interpersonal communication and a master's in organizational communication from SUNY Buffalo, and a bachelor's degree in speech communication from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania.
