Dr. Lori Varlotta

Dr. Lori E. Varlotta is the most recent past president of California Lutheran University, president emerita of Hiram College (OH), and senior vice president emerita of Sacramento State. In addition to these C-suite roles, she has held deanships and directorships for the last four decades  at mission-driven colleges and universities—large and small, public and private, stand-alone and system-embedded. While on research leave from California Lutheran, she is enjoying a Presidential Fellowship at Chapman University. Here, she serves as a guest lecturer, a student affairs advisor, and a presenter on programs and panels related to the 2024–2025 Exploring the World theme: Gender and Sexuality.

At both Hiram and California Lutheran, where Dr. Varlotta held the CEO role, she was the first woman to hold the post. In each case, she was recruited to lead systemic changes to reposition the university for the future.

Varlotta took the helm at Hiram College just as it was facing financial exigency. Her first call to action was to refinance the college’s long-term debt. She and her lean team then went on to log six consecutive banner fundraising years and redesign the entire academic structure. After positioning Hiram on stronger ground, Varlotta was recruited to lead California Lutheran University through the global pandemic and a number of internal crises impacting the campus.

In addition to the turnaround and repositioning work for which she is known, Dr. Varlotta publishes frequently; Varlotta also contributes routinely to national conversations to national conversations on student success, systemic change, integrated planning and budgeting, curricular and co-curricular prioritization, shared governance, and gender and diversity. Links to some of her work can be found here.