On April 1, Lori Stewart Gonzalez officially assumed her new role as executive vice president and university provost, overseeing UofL’s undergraduate, graduate and professional education.
Reporting directly to President Neeli Bendapudi, Gonzalez works closely with deans, vice presidents to advance the teaching, research and service missions of the university.
Gonzalez is focused ongetting university members back on campus, safely,over the summer and by the fall as the pandemic lingers.She alsowants tohelp thecampus communityrebuildits sense of belonging.
“The human connection is part of the fabric of auniversity.You know, it’s in those momentsyou’re walking to the library, you’re going to get a cup of coffee and you see someone that you haven’t seen in a while and you catch up.I think being detached (during the pandemic)increased everyone’s anxiety. I know it did mine.Soany problems become a huge problem. Feelings get hurt more quickly. There’s something about sitting face-to-face with people,” she said.
For the long-term, Gonzalez wantsto partner with the campus community on deciding how we will define and measure being a premier metropolitan university.
“There’s no set of criteria that would say youarea premier, metropolitan university. There are tons ofmetrics out thereyou can do, so how are we going to define that?How are we going to measure and operationalize what that will mean for UofL? And becoming a premier, anti-racist campus goes hand in hand with that,” she said. “What isit going to mean toshow we’re moving closer and closer to being an anti-racist campus? At the end of the day, how will weknow that we’ve moved the needle on both of those things?”
UofL News had a chance to sit down with the new provost, originally from a small town in eastern Kentucky,to getto know more about herpersonal and professionalbackground, as well as her goals as provost.
UofL News: What motivated you to work in higher education?
Gonzalez:I’m a speech-language pathologist by education and early on in my career I was invited to do a series of continuing education activities for other speechpathologistsandI realized I loved teaching.But the real reason, I think, is my father. He was a graduate of Berea College, he was the first in our family to go to college and education was always talked about in my house. He encouraged people in our little town to get a degree and at his funeral, I remember somebody saying, ‘I’m a nurse because your dad told me I could be.’I wasjustinculcated with the notion that education is a transformative experience. You can transform a person, a family, a community and really our world. That’s my ‘why.‘
UofL News: Did you have a favorite course in college that you remember? A favorite professor?
Gonzalez:Yes.I took a course in phonologywith my professor,Alice Dyson, who later became my mentor in my doctoral program.Studyingphonology isworking out the puzzle of a child’s speech when no one can understand them. They have their own rules.I started unlocking the puzzle ofchildren’sspeechand that course set me on a career path of wanting to untangle challenges. Whensomeone comes to my officewitha real need and it’s a tricky situation, it’s a puzzleand Ihave tofind the pieces. Sometimes it’s money. Sometimes it’s abarrier. Sometimes it’s connecting someone to someone else. But it’s all a puzzle that you can solve.
UofL News:Do you have afavorite thingyetabout UofL?
Gonzalez:The warm, welcoming people.I’ve been astounded by it.Even from the time it was announced that I would assume the position, people reached out to me and were so welcoming.I haven’t been able to interact a lotwith large groups of students, faculty or staff, but I think it’s a spirit here that is recognizable.
UofL News:What is your favorite quote or best piece of advice you’ve received?
Gonzalez:It’s a proverb:fall downseven times, get up eight. It’s all about resilience. When somebody stumbles, sometimes they think that a failure is going to derail them forever. But what you do is, you get yourself up, dust off and then you go forward. You reflect on what happened, butyou just get up every time, every time, every time.
UofL News: How do you like to spend your free time?
Gonzalez:I’m abaker. I like to bake. It’s one of the reasonsI’llbeglad to get back into an office, so I can bring baked goods in!I read a lot.I alsolike to walk. My husband and I, we walk every day when we’re together.Wealsoenjoy renovating homes.We like to get a house that needs a littlelove and putour own stamp on it. We’ve done that three times.
UofL News: What do you want our students, faculty and staff to know about you?
Gonzalez:I would want everyone to know that I see academics as our core mission. It is why we are here. So, wehave tobe astudent-first campus focusedonhowthey can be successful as students and as engaged citizens upon graduation.But we cannot do that without dedicated, engaged faculty and staff. I’m committed to making sure that our students are successful and supporting and developing our faculty and staff. It’s this synergy we get when we allhave the goal of creating the next generation of engaged leaders,thenext generation of health care professionals,poets, musicians, etc.As we do all those things together, it is, as we say in the Cardinal Principles, our Noble Purpose.
