Patricia Rogers Named President of Lake Superior College

Posted: March 20, 2019

Contact: Doug Anderson, doug.anderson@MinnState.edu, 651-201-1426

ST. PAUL, Minn., Mar. 20, 2019 – Patricia L. Rogers has been named by the Board of Trustees of Minnesota State Colleges and Universities to serve as the next president of Lake Superior College. The appointment will become effective July 1, 2019.

Patricia Rogers“Lake Superior College is performing well and is moving in the right direction,” said Devinder Malhotra, chancellor of Minnesota State. “The challenge for the next president will be to build on this solid foundation, deepen and enhance the work, and accelerate the impact Lake Superior College has on the community and the broader region. In Dr. Rogers, I am confident that we have found the next leader who will, through authentic, open, and collaborative leadership, develop a shared vision and a shared responsibility to execute the vision, and will lead the college to even greater heights.”

 Dr. Rogers has served Winona State University (WSU) as provost and vice president for Academic Affairs since 2013. In this role, she provides overall academic leadership and is responsible for leading university strategic and academic planning. Some of her accomplishments include working with several Minnesota State colleges in the region to create programming and dynamic pathways that allow students to easily move among the colleges and WSU, enhancing and strengthening the 100-year partnership between WSU-Rochester and Rochester Community and Technical College, and decentralizing the Academic Affairs budget to give departments and offices more autonomy to make resource decisions. Her efforts have contributed to WSU’s excellent track-record of success for students of color. She also serves as a Higher Learning Commission (HLC) Peer Reviewer and as the WSU Accreditation Liaison Officer.

Prior to joining Winona State, she served Bemidji State University (BSU) from 2007 to 2013 as the founding dean of Health Sciences and Human Ecology and the School of Graduate Studies. In this capacity, she led recalibration efforts, partnerships and articulations, and she participated in fundraising and foundation development activities. From 2006 to 2007, she took leave from BSU to serve as the founding dean of the School of Education and Graduate Studies at Valley City State University (ND). She also served BSU as an assistant professor, associate professor, or professor from 1996 to 2006.

From 1986 to 1996, she served as the co-leader of the Health Studies unit in the Division of Environmental and Occupational Health, School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.

Other experience includes serving as the system director for instructional technology at Minnesota State where she championed the development of highly interactive distance learning programming. She also served as chair of the Minnesota Online Council and received the Minnesota Pioneer Award for distance learning and teaching.

Dr. Rogers is a Fulbright Scholar and holds a bachelor’s degree, a Master of Arts, and a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.

Dr. Rogers will replace Pat Johns, who has served as the president of Lake Superior College since 2010 and has announced his intention to retire.

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Minnesota State includes 30 community and technical colleges and seven state universities serving approximately 375,000 students. It is the fourth-largest system of two-year colleges and four-year universities in the United States.