Lisa Marsh Ryerson serves as Provost at Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU). As Provost, Ms. Ryerson is responsible for the university’s academic offerings and the strategic direction for the overall student experience. SNHU currently serves over 170,000 learners around the world and is the largest nonprofit provider of higher education in the United States. SNHU offers over 200 programs, from certificates to doctoral level degrees, including business, education, liberal arts, social sciences, and STEM. Ms. Ryerson is a bold, disciplined, and collaborative leader. Under her leadership, SNHU is continuing to expand access to higher education to learners around the world. 

Before joining SNHU, Ms. Ryerson was president of AARP Foundation, the charitable affiliate of AARP. In this role, she set the Foundation’s strategic direction and steered its efforts to realize an audacious vision: a country free of poverty, where no older person feels vulnerable. Ms. Ryerson spearheaded innovative partnerships with other organizations to create and advance effective solutions that help vulnerable older adults increase their economic opportunity and social connectedness. The Foundation generated over $5 billion in income for older adults in its past three-year strategic plan.

Ms. Ryerson has decades of expertise in education—beginning in the classroom and extending through 18 years of service as the president and CEO of Wells College in Aurora, N.Y. Her many accomplishments at Wells College included increasing enrollment by 45%, launching an endowed Center for Business and Entrepreneurship, and revitalizing the economy of the surrounding community.