Lorna Duphiney Edmundson, Ed.D.

Most recently, she served for a decade as president of Wilson College during a time in which the College revamped its governance structures; surpassed its comprehensive campaign goal of $45 million; established the $25 million, LEED-GOLD certified, Harry R. Brooks Complex for Science, Math and Technology and the Institute for Women in Science, Math and Technology; launched its Global Citizenship Initiative; and strengthened assessment and Wilson’s brand.

Through her leadership, the College became a founding member of the American University Presidents’ Climate Commitment and the United Nations Academic Impact Program, securing its position as a leader in environmental sustainability and cross-cultural study.  Such progress was made despite the recession, when many colleges had to retrench or increase borrowing at unsustainable rates.  Upon retirement in June of 2011, she was named President Emerita.  The new Brooks Complex for Science, Mathematics & Technology Atrium was named in her honor.

Dr. Edmundson is recognized as an effective leader and facilitator of institutional change, helping public and private educational institutions build on their distinctions; strengthen teaching, learning, finances and planning; maximize resources; and forge strategic partnerships in the U.S., France, Japan, South Korea, China, and Saudi Arabia.  Among the honors she has received are the Athena International Award; an Honorary Degree from her Alma Mater, Rhode Island College; and an Honorary, Lifetime Membership in Rotary International.  She was featured among leaders from Hong Kong, China, and the U.S. in Halpern and Cheung’s 2008 book, Women at the Top: Powerful Leaders Tell How to Combine Work and Family. She has served many organizations, including the ACE Commission on International Education, National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, NAICUSE, Campus Compact, Women’s College Coalition, Association of Presbyterian Colleges and Universities, Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Pennsylvania, and Vermont Business Roundtable.

She received the Ed.D. from Columbia University’s Teachers College, holds degrees from Boston College and Rhode Island College, and completed the Columbia Graduate School of Business’s Executive Program in Accounting and Finance for Non-Profit Managers. She served as a Visiting Scholar in Columbia University’s doctoral program in College Teaching and Academic Leadership, and as a J. William Fulbright Research Scholar to Japan, specializing in cross-cultural leadership development.

In addition to A~MA, Dr. Edmundson currently works with Ann Duffield and Colleagues and Credo Higher Education to identify and develop higher education leadership talent and serve as a strategic advisor to presidents who seek to create distinctive, thriving institutions.  She is particularly experienced in strategic academic and financial planning, comprehensive president/trustee leadership development and assessment, strategic problem-solving, effective presidential transition, educating women, and campus internationalization.  As a member of the International Women’s Forum and Delta Kappa Gamma Society International, she advocates on behalf of women’s education and represents an NGO from (Soviet) Georgia at the United Nations.  Through her work as Senior Advisor to International Bilingual Preschools in Nanjing, China, she periodically addresses teacher educators at Chinese colleges and universities. Until June, 2018, Dr. Edmundson served as a Norwich University Trustee, she serves on four committees and chairs the Academic Affairs Committee. She has been awarded Trustee Emerita status.

She and her husband, Daniel, an attorney in international business law, live in New York City and in Sharon, Connecticut.