Meet President Lori Stewart Gonzalez

President Gonzalez joined Ohio University from the University of Louisville where she served as Executive Vice President and Provost. She has served as an academic leader in both urban and rural environments, always in public higher education.

Dr. Gonzalez received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Kentucky in speech pathology and audiology and a Master of Arts degree in communication disorders from Eastern Kentucky University. She holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Communication Sciences and Disorders from the University of Florida and is an accomplished researcher and faculty member in her field having taught at the University of Southern Illinois and the University of Kentucky, the latter for more than a decade.

She began her academic career at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale in 1988. In 1991, she returned to UK as an assistant professor in the Communication Sciences and Disorders program. She then spent 20 years in roles as a professor and associate dean of Academic Affairs. In 2005, she was appointed dean of the College of Health Sciences, a position she held for seven years. In 2011, Dr. Gonzalez moved to Appalachian State University, where she served as provost and executive vice chancellor for three years, followed by a year as special advisor to the senior vice president for Academic Affairs at the University of North Carolina System. From 2015 until the spring of 2021, she served as the vice chancellor for Academic, Faculty and Student Affairs at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis. In April of 2021, Dr. Gonzalez was appointed executive vice president and university provost at the University of Louisville, followed by one year of service as interim university president.