Dr. Kiersten N. White serves as Chief of Staff to President McConnell, acting as a strategic partner to advance institutional priorities and provide executive decision support. She is the primary liaison to the Board of Trustees (BOT), leading the preparation for all Board meetings, and she functions as Corporate Secretary. Within the President's Cabinet, she manages high-level communications and coordinates critical cross-divisional initiatives.
Bringing over two decades of experience and deep institutional knowledge to the role, Dr. White's prior leadership included Assistant Vice President for Health & Well-being and Assistant Vice President for Student Life. Her strategic contributions include co-leading the University’s public health and COVID-19 mitigation efforts during the pandemic, guiding functional planning of multiple Student Life departments for two major University acquisitions, and co-facilitating institutional compliance for various federal, state, and local regulations (Clery Act and Title IX). She also secured multiple federal grants from the Department of Justice – Office on Violence Against Women (OVW).
A “triple Hawk,” Dr. White earned three degrees from Saint Joseph’s University: Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership, Master of Science in Training and Organizational Development, and Bachelor of Science in Sociology. Her commitment to the Jesuit mission is further demonstrated by her completion of the AJCU Ignatian Colleagues Program and the Ignatian Leadership Seminar.
