Meet Dr. Christina A. Clark

Dr. Christina A. Clark is the eighth president of La Roche University and the institution’s second lay president. She brings more than two decades of leadership experience in Catholic higher education, with a sustained focus on academic quality, mission integration, and innovation in service of student success.

Since her appointment in 2024, Dr. Clark has led a series of strategic initiatives to strengthen access, deepen mission, and prepare La Roche students well for a rapidly evolving workforce. She has expanded high-demand academic programs, including radiologic technology, aviation management, sports and entertainment management, and advanced nursing education. These efforts reflect a commitment to aligning academic offerings with regional and national workforce needs while maintaining a strong student-centered learning environment.

She implemented a direct admission program to expand access to higher education and has advanced an academic vision that integrates artificial intelligence literacy across the curriculum, embeds structured experiential learning in every major, and equips students with the skills to engage constructively across differences. To reinforce the University’s Catholic identity, she established the Division of Mission and Ministry and, in partnership with the Sisters of Divine Providence, launched the Ketteler Center for Peace, Justice, and Inclusion. She also founded the Division of Global Education to expand international engagement and support a growing global student population.

Under Dr. Clark’s leadership, La Roche secured the second-largest gift in the University’s history with the donation of the Providence Heights Motherhouse and surrounding property from the Sisters of Divine Providence, strengthening the institution’s capacity for future growth and mission-driven impact. The University has received national recognition, including designation as a College of Distinction (2024–2025 and 2025-2026) in multiple categories and recognition as a Top Performer on Social Mobility by U.S. News & World Report. She has also emphasized civic engagement, joining College Presidents for Civic Preparedness and advancing initiatives to increase student voter participation. In May 2026, the University’s Board of Trustees approved a two-year strategic sprint plan developed under Dr. Clark’s leadership to advance institutional sustainability, innovation, and long-term mission impact.

Prior to La Roche, Dr. Clark served as provost of Marywood University in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where she led academic and administrative strategy, strengthened student success outcomes, and helped guide the institution through the COVID-19 pandemic with strong retention results. She previously served as dean first of the School of Arts and Sciences, and then of the School of Design, Arts, and Humanities at Marymount University in Arlington, Virginia, and held multiple academic leadership roles as a tenured faculty member at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska. Her leadership portfolio spans strategic planning, curricular innovation, enrollment and retention, faculty development, and institutional advancement.

A scholar of classical literature, Dr. Clark earned her Ph.D. and M.A. in classics from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and her B.A. in classics from Georgetown University. Her research focuses on gender and nonverbal communication in ancient Greek and Roman poetry, and she has taught and published widely in the field. Among Dr. Clark’s academic honors is her naming as a Junior Fellow at Harvard University’s Center for Hellenic Studies. Before going to graduate school, Dr. Clark worked as a credit analyst for Signal Capital Corporation in Oakland, California.

A lifelong learner, Dr. Clark has consistently sought professional development across her career. Most recently, she further strengthened her executive practice through programs such as the Executive Leadership Academy of the Council of Independent Colleges/American Academic Leadership Institute and Harvard University’s Seminar for New Presidents.

Dr. Clark’s leadership is guided by a belief in and commitment to the transformative power of education to prepare students for meaningful careers, lifelong learning, and lives of purpose in a complex and changing world.