Webster University President Elizabeth (Beth) J. Stroble
Biography

Dr. Elizabeth (Beth) J. Stroble is the 11th President of Webster University.  Dr. Stroble brings to this position 35 years of diverse experience as an educator and academic leader.  Most recently she served as Senior Vice President and Provost and Chief Operating Officer of The University of Akron.  Her higher education career has included faculty and administrative assignments at the University of Louisville and Northern Arizona University.  She began her career as a teacher at Vandalia Community High School in Vandalia, Ill.

Dr. Stroble has led partnerships that engage the campus and the community.  While dean of The University of Akron’s College of Education, she helped establish interdisciplinary collaborations such as the Center for Collaboration and Inquiry, the Muehlstein Academy for Mathematics and Science, and the Center for Literacy.  As chair of the State University Education Deans in Ohio, she hosted the first statewide meeting for deans of education and arts and sciences. 

Under her leadership, many new collaborations were launched in northeast Ohio including: the Early College High School; the BioInnovation Institute; the National Inventors Hall of Fame School’s Center for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Learning (for middle school students in grades 5 through 8); Rethinking Race: Black, White, and Beyond; the Medina County University Center; and the Confucius Institute housed on Akron’s campus.

During her tenure at The University of Akron, Dr. Stroble provided statewide leadership as a member of boards of Ohio Learning Network, OhioLINK and the Ohio Resource Center.  She has served on the board for the American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education and has recently completed a term as a Commissioner of the Science and Mathematics Teacher Imperative.  In St. Louis, Dr. Stroble is a member of the Executive Leadership Team for the American Heart Association’s 2010 St. Louis Campaign.

In recognition of Dr. Stroble’s exemplary leadership, she has been awarded the Northern Ohio Live’s Rainmaker Award, the Harold K. Stubbs Award for Humanitarian Service in Education, the University Park Alliance Distinguished Community Leadership Award, and the Order of the Phoenix from The University of Akron. 

Dr. Stroble earned an AB in history and English from Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois.  She earned two masters of arts degrees, one in history and one in American and English literature, both from Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville.  She received her doctorate in curriculum studies from the University of Virginia, Charlottesville.