President Linda M. LeMura became the 14th president of Le Moyne College in Syracuse, N.Y., on July 1, 2014. She is the first female layperson to ascend to the presidency of a Jesuit institution in the United States.
Since becoming president, her accomplishments include: completion of a strategic plan titled Sempre Avanti (Always Forward), which starts by reinforcing Le Moyne’s Ignatian roots as it sets the foundation for the next five years; naming of the Purcell School of Professional Studies; launching of master’s programs in Occupational Therapy and Family Nurse Practitioner; the rollout of the new Greatness meets Goodness branding campaign; completion of the renovation of the Coyne Science Center; the receipt of grants through New York’s Regional Economic Development Council, used to construct the Quantitative Reasoning Center; the addition of the College’s first doctoral program; and, the launch of the Manresa program that prepares all students to develop meaningful career pathways, a central initiative in Sempre Avanti. During her time as president, the College has experienced five consecutive record- breaking fundraising years and several students have earned scholarships through the prestigious Fulbright and Boren Programs. She has also overseen the second largest (2019) and third largest (2018) classes in the College’s history. The College continues to receive national recognition by US World and News Report, the Princeton Review, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll, Money Magazine, and was ranked by College Choice as one of the best Catholic colleges in the U.S.
Before being named president, Dr. LeMura served for seven years as the College’s provost and vice president for academic affairs. In that capacity, she played a pivotal role in the revision of the College’s Core curriculum, the establishment of the Madden School of Business, and the renovation and expansion of Le Moyne’s science facilities. She joined the College in 2003 as Dean of arts and sciences. Prior to Le Moyne, she served as a professor, graduate program director and associate dean at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania. Her research interests include pediatric obesity, pediatric applied physiology, lipid and energy metabolism, and she has taught anatomy and physiology, bioethics and the biology of aging. She has been a research consultant for the U.S. and the Italian Olympic Committees and is the author of 33 peer- reviewed manuscripts, 26 grant proposals, and a textbook translated into multiple languages. A Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine, she has served on the boards of the Council of Independent Colleges and Universities, CenterState CEO, College of the Holy Cross, the Mission and Identity Advisory Committee of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities, Regional Economic Development Council in Central New York, the Executive Committee of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities, Syracuse 20/20, Syracuse Symphony, the Northeast 10 athletic conference executive committee, the Everson Museum, and the Syracuse International Film Festival. She was recently named a founding delegate of the International Association of Jesuit Universities.
A summa cum laude graduate of Niagara University, she received an M.S. and Ph.D. in applied physiology from Syracuse University. She and her husband, Dr. Lawrence Tanner, a professor of environmental systems science at Le Moyne, have a daughter, Emily.
Chancellor Kent Syverud is the 12th Chancellor and President of Syracuse University. A legal scholar and academician, Chancellor Syverud earned distinction as a strategic thinker and visionary leader who has put forward a bold strategic plan to position the University for growth and recognition as a thriving global research university.
At Syracuse, Chancellor Syverud identified four key institutional priorities: providing an outstanding undergraduate experience; empowering research excellence; fostering and supporting change and innovation; and positioning Syracuse as the best university in the world for veterans. The Chancellor also launched an academic strategic planning process that builds on historic institutional strengths, positions the University to anticipate and quickly respond to emerging challenges and opportunities, and aligns the academic goals with a new framework for the physical transformation of the main campus.
A native of Irondequoit in Upstate New York, Chancellor Syverud came to Syracuse from Washington University in St. Louis, where he served as dean and the Ethan A.H. Shepley Distinguished University Professor at the School of Law. Prior to that, he served as dean at Vanderbilt University Law School and as associate dean for academic affairs and professor at University of Michigan Law School. At Syracuse, he continues to teach each semester as a member of the College of Law and School of Education faculties. An elected member of the American Law Institute, Syverud’s scholarship has addressed negotiation, civil litigation, dispute resolution, and higher education.
Chancellor Syverud has a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and a law degree and master’s in economics from University of Michigan. He counts among his closest mentors retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, for whom he clerked shortly after she became the first woman named to the Supreme Court bench.
In addition to his higher education leadership, Chancellor Syverud in 2016 completed six years of service as one of two trustees of the 420 billion Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Trust.
Chancellor Syverud currently serves as Chair of the Atlantic Coast Conference Board of Directors as well as serves on the boards of The Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities in New York, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Crouse Hospital and the Boy Scouts of America Longhouse Council. He also served as a Commissioner for the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, Chair of the Law School Admissions Council and was Co-chair of the Regional Economic Development Council of Central New York.
Chancellor Syverud is married to Dr. Ruth Chen, an environmental toxicologist and professor of practice at Syracuse University’s College of Engineering and Computer Science. They are the parents of three grown sons, Steven, Brian, and David; and they have one granddaughter.