In the summer of 2020, after a nationwide search, the Linn-Benton 社区 College Board of Education voted unanimously to approve the hiring of Dr. 丽莎·艾弗里扮演 第七位总统. Dr. Avery began her new position on July 1st, replacing Dr. 格雷格 Hamann who served as 博天堂官方 president for 10 years before retiring.

Dr. Avery previously served as the president of Portland 社区 College’s Sylvania 2015年至今. In that role, she was responsible for leading PCC’s largest and oldest campus, which is home to nearly 27,000 students and approximately 1,300 employees. 在PCC, Dr. Avery was an advocate for equitable student success, increased student access, sustainability, diversity, equity and inclusion. Sylvania’s academic programs include Nursing, Engineering, Business, Dental Hygiene, and Automotive Technology, as well as a new Center of Excellence in Cybersecurity. Sylvania’s budget is approximately $94 million in state funding with additional bond support; the campus includes 14 buildings, including a cutting-edge MakerSpace, and approximately 1,000,000 square feet of facilities on a 122-acre campus. During her PCC tenure, Avery’s advocacy for Oregon’s community colleges included testimony on the 社区 College Support Fund, Applied Baccalaureate 项目, the 社区 College Transfer Bill, and Capital Projects.

之前 to her appointment at PCC, Dr. Avery had a distinguished leadership career. 她 served as the District Vice Provost for Strategic Partnerships from 2013-15 at the 社区 Colleges of Spokane and the District Dean of Global Education from 2012-2013. As the Vice Provost, Dr. Avery was responsible for advancing the college district’s strategic plan with key business, industry and foundation partners, as well as enhancing and promoting international exchange, study abroad and honors programs.  在她的 leadership, international enrollment climbed steadily and Spokane Falls 社区 College, one of two colleges in the district, earned an Institute of International Education award for globalizing the community college.

2010-2012年，博士. 艾弗里担任 the Dean of Social Sciences, Human Services, Accounting and Economics and Academic Initiatives at Spokane Falls 社区 College. 在她的 role, she provided academic leadership to a large and complex division of disciplines that included a multitude of transfer and career technical 教育 programs. 她 also authored SFCC’s Achieving the Dream grant, helping the college improve its student success rates, and led the initiative to offer cultural competency training to all SFCC教员.

Before arriving at the 社区 Colleges of Spokane District, Dr. 艾弗里担任 the Interim Associate Dean of the School of Social Work and Human Services at Eastern Washington University from 2008-2010. Her role included oversight of programs in Chicano Education, Africana Studies, Native American Studies, and part-time self-support programs offered to place bound students in rural Eastern Washington. Dr. Avery began teaching at EWU in 2000, earning promotion to the rank of full professor in 2006. 在EWU，在 addition to her full-time teaching load, Avery authored several successful proposals for external federal funding and served on a national commission related to globalizing 教育. Avery views her 10 years of classroom instruction as foundational to her administrative career.

A proponent of strategic partnerships, Dr. Avery serves on numerous local/regional committees, and was previously a member of the inaugural American Association of 社区 Colleges’ Commission on Structured Pathways. 2018年，博士. Avery was elected to the national governing board of the American Association of 社区 Colleges (AACC), and is serving as a board member from 2018-2021. 她 chairs AACC’s Commission on Public Policy, Advocacy and Advancement, and is a member of the AACC Public Policy and Government 关系委员会. Other national service for Dr. Avery includes her membership on the College Board’s 社区 College Advisory Panel and on the Healthy Campus 咨询委员会. 

A first-generation college graduate and native of LaPorte, Indiana, Dr. 艾弗里获得 her doctorate and master’s degrees from the University of Illinois at Chicago. 之前 to this, she earned her bachelor’s degree in research psychology from Ball State University.