Dr. Phil Cavalier was named the 13th president of Kutztown in Pennsylvania on April 30, 2025 and will begin his tenure on July 7th. For the previous seven years, he served as the provost and senior vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Tennessee at Martin. He also served as Interim Chancellor at the University of Tennessee at Martin from March to August 2023.

Some of Dr. Cavalier’s accomplishments during his tenure at UT Martin include leading the university in creating a strategic plan for 2025-30, developing a two five-year strategic enrollment plan, guiding the university to a record-high 77% retention rate for first-year students, adding several new academic programs, and building a UTM in Siena, Italy study abroad program.

Prior to his appointment at UT Martin, Dr. Cavalier served as the provost at two residential liberal arts colleges, Lyon College in Arkansas and Eureka College in Illinois. During the 2005-6 academic year, he was a Fulbright Scholar in Kyiv, Ukraine, where he taught American literature at two Ukrainian universities and delivered lectures throughout Ukraine as well as in Estonia and Egypt. He earned a Ph.D. in English from the University at Buffalo, an M.A. in English from Northeastern University, and a B.A. in Economics from Swarthmore College.

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Dr. Claudia Petrescu is the Associate Vice President for Graduate Education and Internationalization Initiatives, Illinois State University, USA. She is an experienced higher education leader who served in leadership roles such as Vice Provost for Graduate Education & Dean of the Graduate School at Kansas State University, Chief Strategy Officer, and Dean of Graduate School at Oakland University in Michigan. Dr. Petrescu is a tenured professor in the Department of Politics and Government at Illinois State University.

Petrescu has over 20 years of academic leadership, including 10 years of leading graduate schools at R2 and R1 institutions. She is a strategic thinker that builds partnerships with academic, non-academic and community partners to design and implement a data-informed graduate education culture. Petrescu’s work and research interests are in the areas of organizational change, strategic planning, student success, evaluation, nonprofit management, and capacity building.

Claudia has been published in journals such as the Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, International Leadership Journal, Nonprofit Management and Leadership among others. She is also a recent graduate of the American Council of Education (ACE) fellowship program. Claudia holds a doctorate in Public Policy and Public Administration from the University of Pittsburgh, and obtained graduate degrees from Duquesne University, the National School of Public Administration and International Relations, Bucharest, Romania, and Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.

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Daniel J. Allen, Ph.D., is the 30th President of La Salle University. Drawing on more than 20 years of experience in Catholic higher education, Dr. Allen is leading La Salle’s strategy focused on enrollment growth, student retention and enhancing the student experience.

Prior to joining La Salle, Dr. Allen served as senior vice president for advancement and external relations at DePaul University and held leadership roles at the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy, Lewis University and Loras College. He earned his Ph.D. in education from Loyola University Chicago and continues to pursue his interest in postsecondary educational access for low-income students. He also serves on the board of the International Association of Lasallian Universities, a global network of 64 universities.

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