President Linda LeMura's Initiatives | Le Moyne College

Welcome to Le Moyne College!

Dear young people, Christ asks you to be wide awake and alert, to see things in life that really matter.”
– Pope Francis

The pontiff’s words beautifully encapsulate what we do at Le Moyne – invite our students to lives of faith and service, intellect and integrity. In a world as fractured as ours, it is easy to become fatalistic and disillusioned, but I am an optimist. It is hard not to be when you work at Le Moyne. Here is why: Students do not come to this College in search of shortcuts or material comforts, as attractive as they may sometimes seem. They come to this place in search of something much more profound. They’re yearning for what the Jesuits have refined in 500 years of scholarship and reflection. They want – and deserve – an education that is worthy of their curiosity, an education that honors their humanity, an education that guides them through the uncertainty of the future.

Like nearly 30 percent of our undergraduates, I was a first-generation college student. My parents, James and Mary LeMura, immigrated to the U.S. with very little in the way of material wealth but with great faith in their community, their family and the future. My story, and the story of my family, is also the story of Le Moyne College. Whether from humble origins or great wealth, immigrant or native born, we are united in our belief that an education is an act of faith, an expression of confidence and calm in the face of the unknown.

As Le Moyne’s 14th president, I am humbled and honored by the faith that has been extended to me by so many. My experience – three advanced degrees, 15 years of teaching and research, 10 years of administrative work – has shown me that, in the words of Pope Francis, “The world is crisscrossed by roads that come closer together and move apart, but the important thing is that they lead [toward] the Good.” Our students are carving out their own paths on these roads, and when I reflect on the journeys they are choosing to take, I am filled with immense pride. Aided by an education rooted in ethics, service and intellectual rigor, they have rallied around a classmate whose parents are seriously ill, dedicated a Saturday morning volunteering at nearly 20 sites around the city of Syracuse, and completed sophisticated research of their own design. These are surely the “things in life that really matter” that the pontiff referenced.

I am confident that the courage, tenacity and imagination of these young people will surely heal the world.

Linda M. LeMura, Ph.D.
President

Linda LeMura, Le Moyne's 14th President

Linda LeMura, Ph.D., made history when she was named the first female lay president of a Jesuit college or university in the U.S. Since taking on that role in 2014, LeMura has maintained a deep commitment to preserving the College's Jesuit identity and heritage while simultanously building a campus whose focus on experiential learning will prepare its graduates for the challenges they will face in the future. She has approached her work with warmth, exuberance, and a deep love for her students.

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Dr. LeMura's Biography

Dr. Linda M. LeMura became the 14th president of Le Moyne College in Syracuse, N.Y., on July 1, 2014. She is the first female layperson to ascend to the presidency of a Jesuit institution in the United States. Since becoming president, her accomplishments include: completion of a strategic plan titled Sempre Avanti (Always Forward), which starts by reinforcing Le Moyne’s Ignatian roots as it sets the foundation for the next five years; naming of the Purcell School of Professional Studies; launching of master's programs in Occupational Therapy and Family Nurse Practitioner; the rollout of the new Greatness meets Goodness branding campaign; completion of the renovation of the Coyne Science Center; the receipt of a grant through New York's Regional Economic Development Council, used to construct the Quantitative Reasoning Center; and, the launch of the Manresa program that prepares all students to develop meaningful career pathways, a central initiative in Sempre Avanti. During her time as president, the College has experienced three consecutive record-breaking fundraising years and several students have earned scholarships through the prestigious Fulbright Program.

The College continues to receive national recognition by US World and News Report, the Princeton Review, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, the President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll, and was ranked by College Choice as one of the best Catholic colleges in the U.S.

Before being named president, Dr. LeMura served for seven years as the College’s provost and vice president for academic affairs. In that capacity, she played a pivotal role in the revision of the College’s Core curriculum, the establishment of the Madden School of Business, and the renovation and expansion of Le Moyne’s science facilities. She joined the College in 2003 as dean of arts and sciences. Prior to Le Moyne, she served as a professor, graduate program director and associate dean at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania. Her research interests include pediatric obesity, pediatric applied physiology, lipid and energy metabolism, and she has taught anatomy and physiology, bioethics and the biology of aging. She has been a research consultant for the U.S. and the Italian Olympic Committees and is the author of 33 peer-reviewed manuscripts, 26 grant proposals, and a textbook translated into multiple languages.

A Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine, she has served on the boards of the Council of Independent Colleges and Universities, CenterState CEO, College of the Holy Cross, the Mission and Identity Advisory Committee of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities, Regional Economic Development Council in Central New York, Syracuse 20/20, Syracuse Symphony, the Everson Museum, and the Syracuse International Film Festival.

A summa cum laude graduate of Niagara University, she received an M.S. and Ph.D. in applied physiology from Syracuse University. She and her husband, Dr. Lawrence Tanner, a professor of environmental systems science at Le Moyne, have a daughter, Emily.

Le Moyne's Strategic Plan Sempre Avanti: "Always Forward"

In advancing, we honor the depth and permanence of our Ignatian roots - always rigorous, always creative, always intellectually curious - while we also welcome the forward movement of change.

Read the entire plan; an abbreviated overview of the plan can be found here.

College Leadership Team

Joseph G. Marina, S.J., Ph.D. Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs

William H. Brower III, Vice President for Communications and Advancement

David C. McCallum '90, S.J., Ed.D., Vice President for Mission Integration & Development

Deborah M. Cady Melzer, Ph.D., Vice President for Student Development

Roger W. Stackpoole '86, CPA, Senior Vice President for Finance, Enrollment and Administration, and Treasurer

"Just as the Holy Father, Pope Francis, asks us as pastors to be careful in choosing candidates who are pastors and close to the people, the Le Moyne board of trustees has chosen similarly and well. In Dr. LeMura, Le Moyne College has a leader who is gentle, patient, and merciful. She is animated by her faith and expresses the freedom of the Lord by her outward simplicity and austerity of her life." - Timothy Michael Cardinal Dolan, Archbishop of New York

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Message from the President

Le Moyne's 14th President, Dr. Linda LeMura, leads a dynamic College on the rise.

Welcome to Le Moyne College!

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