Lori Bettison-Varga, Ph.D., joined the Whitman community as provost and dean of the faculty July 1, 2007, taking on the responsibilities of chief academic officer of the college and the second in command to the president.

A nationally-recognized advocate of undergraduate research and creative activity, Bettison-Varga is immediate past president of the Council on Undergraduate Research and former director of the Keck Geology Consortium. The consortium consists of 18 colleges, including Whitman, and provides undergraduate summer research experiences in the geosciences. She left positions as professor of geology and as associate dean for research and grants at The College of Wooster (Wooster, Ohio). Currently the co-primary investigator on a National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates grant to support the Keck Geology Consortium, Bettison-Varga is also the author of numerous papers, many co-written with students, in various geoscience and education journals. She has co-authored major grants from organizations such the Luce Foundation, The Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the Teagle Foundation.

After receiving her B.A. in geology with honors from the University of California at Santa Barbara, Bettison-Varga earned her M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of California at Davis. She received a National Science Foundation National Young Investigator Award early in her career for her geological research, has personally advised dozens of students in undergraduate research, and has played an instrumental role in supporting undergraduate involvement in research at The College of Wooster.

Bettison-Varga has spent her entire career focused on undergraduate liberal arts education, beginning as a visiting assistant professor at Pomona College, where she taught from 1990 to 1992 before taking the position of assistant professor of geology at The College of Wooster.

During her tenure at Wooster, from 1992 to 2007, Bettison-Varga served on a number of curriculum committees on a range of subjects, including Women’s Studies, Archaeology, and the college-wide Education Policy Committee, as well as the president’s Task Force on Diversity. She was involved in departmental and institutional levels of strategic planning, accreditation and other college-wide initiatives, and she has been professionally engaged with the American Association of Colleges and Universities. Her activity with the AAC&U includes serving as an invited plenary speaker and workshop presenter.