Welcoming our Incoming President

Antioch University welcomes Lori Erica Varlotta, PhD, as Incoming President of Antioch University and Incoming Executive Vice-President of the Coalition for the Common Good. Varlotta brings a strong vision for progressive education and a deep commitment to Antioch’s mission of promoting social, racial, economic, and environmental justice. Under her leadership, Antioch and the Coalition for the Common Good will continue expanding their impact on democracy, sustainability, and equity through education. Varlotta will officially begin her role on August 11, 2025.

About the Incoming President

Lori Varlotta, PhD, is a higher education leader with four decades of experience. Though different in size and type, all the universities she has served are—like Antioch—mission-driven ones that prioritize student centrism, experiential learning, and the rigorous yet respectful pursuit of truth. She has found that her visionary yet approachable leadership style makes her a good fit for such institutions.

Most recently, Varlotta served as the President of California Lutheran University, where she was the first woman to hold that role. Her Cal Lutheran tenure coincided with a global pandemic, shifting demographics, and heightened demands for racial equity. Varlotta led with clarity and courage during a period of unprecedented challenge—safely reopening the campus post-pandemic, addressing financial constraints, resolving complex legal matters, and strengthening institutional accreditation, all while laying the foundation for long-term sustainability and growth. Prior to California Lutheran, Varlotta served as President of Hiram College in Ohio and, before that, as the Senior Vice President in charge of student affairs, enrollment management, Division I athletics, diversity and belonging, and strategic planning at California State University, Sacramento.

Varlotta is also a nationally respected scholar-practitioner, writing and speaking on topics such as communities of difference, shared governance, educational innovation, and leadership for change. She holds an interdisciplinary PhD in Educational Leadership and Feminist Philosophy from Miami University, an MS in Cultural Foundations of Education and Curriculum from Syracuse University, and a BA in Philosophy from the University of Notre Dame. She is grateful for the opportunities that those credentials have helped her earn—and quick to add that she has learned life’s most important lessons from her blue-collar family and others from her hometown of Pittsburgh, PA.