Message from the President

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.