Board of Directors Announces Dr. Marlene Wall LCC’s New President

The LCC Board of Directors is pleased to announce that by unanimous vote Dr. Marlene Wall has been appointed as the sixth president of LCC International University in Klaipeda, Lithuania. She will begin as President effective immediately.

Dr. Wall has served the university in a wide variety of capacities in the 20 years since her participation in LCC's first Summer Language Institute in 1991. Before coming to LCC in 2002 as Academic Vice President, she served on the Board of Directors and was instrumental in establishing policies and processes for board operations. She has also been consistently recognized at LCC as a strong educator, from her early work in Summer Language Institutes to her more recent instruction in the university's MA in TESOL program. Under her leadership, the academic division has successfully established faculty governance structures, accredited existing and new programs, revised the general education curriculum, and articulated foundational learning outcomes that grow out of LCC's distinctive Christian liberal arts educational model. She has most recently served as Interim President, providing strong campus leadership and representing LCC with excellence to external audiences in Europe and in North America.

"Marlene has served with distinction through a period of significant transition and is absolutely the right leader as the university enters its third decade," noted June Michealsen, Chair of the Board.

Dr. Wall, a global citizen born in Latin America and with significant experience around the world, completed her PhD in Curriculum and Instruction at Kansas State University (Manhattan, Kansas) in 2000. She received her MA in Linguistics (EFL) from Southern Illinois University (Carbondale, Illinois), and her BA in English/Secondary Education from Tabor College (Hillsboro, Kansas).  After advancing in the Wichita, Kansas public school system to become the director of a five-thousand student ESL program, Marlene responded to LCC's invitation to serve the university full-time in Klaipėda. Since coming to Lithuania, she has also remained current in her professional discipline, presenting at international conferences and consulting in various countries.

"LCC has been a significant part of my life, and I look forward to the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead as we move into this next stage of our work together," said Dr. Wall. "LCC's unique role in Eastern Europe and the broader region requires an expanding commitment to our academic reputation in keeping with our mission and vision."

The LCC presidential search committee, which included faculty, staff, students, and board members, began work last fall and completed its process with a recommendation to the board at the spring meetings. Plans for an inauguration in the fall of 2012 are underway.