After two years as provost and more than two decades of education and nonprofit experience, Lisa Marsh Ryerson is the new president of Southern NH University (SNHU), taking over from Paul J. LeBlanc, who led SNHU for 20 years and was heralded as an innovator in education.
Under LeBlanc, SNHU became a pioneer in online education, grew to more than 200,000 students globally and is recognized as the largest nonprofit provider of higher education in the country.
Ryerson says she plans to continue “our wonderful mission that unlocks opportunities for learners of all ages and backgrounds for whom education has not been a guarantee. Our mission is to help people transform their lives, identify the needs of individual learners and provide a place for them to meet their dreams.”
Before coming to SNHU, Ryerson served nine years as president of the AARP Foundation, the charitable affiliate of AARP, and spent 18 years as president and CEO of Wells College in Aurora, New York. While she was at Wells, enrollment increased by 45% and the college created an endowed Center for Business and Entrepreneurship. She has served on multiple boards of higher education and nonprofit organizations.
Ryerson earned a bachelor of arts degree in English from Wells College and a master of science in education/literacy from the State University of New York Cortland. She holds honorary doctor of humane letters degrees from three universities and an honorary doctor of social services degree from a fourth.
She sees harnessing new technologies, like AI, as among the challenges before her and emphasizes the importance of providing a culture where employees receive the skills and training they need to stay current with those technologies.
An ongoing debate in higher education is the question of degrees versus skills as the most important outcome for students. “In my mind, they should go together,” Ryerson says.