Jill Murray, Ph.D., became the ninth president of Lackawanna College on July 1, 2020. She is proud to be the fi rst woman to hold the offi ce of president at Lackawanna. Dr. Murray brings a breadth of experience to her presidency. She previously served as the College’s Executive Vice President and Chief Innovation Offi cer. From 2008 to 2012, Murray worked as the College’s Vice President of Academic Affairs, where she was responsible for developing and overseeing all of Lackawanna’s academic curricula. She is the catalyst behind Lackawanna College’s esports program and assisted with the formation of the Level Up program which earned the college recognition as one of The World’s Most Innovative Companies in 2021 by Fast Company. The Chronicle of Higher Education also recognized Lackawanna College as one of the fastest growing colleges in 2021. In addition to dramatically increasing the student population, Murray has helped improve student retention and graduation rates, expand online learning options, and led the creation of innovative and relevant academic programming and support services, as well as implemented and championed a robust strategic planning process. Before joining Lackawanna, she served as the Director of the Institute for Health and Wellness at Marywood University from 2005 to 2008 and as a Doctoral Program faculty member at Marywood from 2006 to 2010. Before becoming a leader in higher education, Murray spent several years in operations leadership including “bleeding brown” in UPS management, as a package care driver, and proud teamster. Murray holds a bachelor’s of arts in philosophy (University of Scranton, 1989), a master’s of arts in philosophy (SUNY at Albany, 1991) and a Ph.D. in Human Development (Marywood University, 2006). She is a lifelong resident of Scranton, Pa., and a graduate of Scranton Central High School, which now serves as Lackawanna’s main academic building, Angeli Hall. Dr. Murray’s interests include reading, biking, listening to jazz, dabbling with the guitar, vacationing in Florida, and spending time with her family and friends. President Murray is active in our regional community and has received numerous professional and civic accolades.

Mark Speicher, PhD, MHA is Senior Vice President, Research, Learning and Innovation for the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM) in Bethesda, MD. Speicher leads AACOM’s efforts to guide the current state and future development of osteopathic medical education (OME). He directs AACOM’s research and innovation activities, working closely with AACOM’s 41 member colleges of osteopathic medicine (COMs) to innovate existing programs and propose new ones. His research at AACOM includes exploring predictive modeling and artificial intelligence in the process of selecting, training, and assessing medical students and residents, the impact of the community-based, distributed model of clinical education, and the residency match of osteopathic medical graduates as well as the contributions of osteopathic medicine to the health care system. He led the Project in Osteopathic Medical Education and Empathy. His most recent work explores the measuring and improving the well-being of medical students and faculty.

Previously, Speicher was Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at Midwestern University, Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine (AZCOM). His research at AZCOM focused on improving student performance and academic outcomes, performance in clinical rotations, and in the residency match. His research also explored the impacts on patients from the quality, number, and specialty choice of physicians. He has taught on topics including economic measures of health, biostatistics, and physician performance. Prior to entering medical education, Dr. Speicher researched the physician workforce at Arizona State University and was the Director of the Arizona Board of Medical Examiners, the licensing and regulatory board for allopathic physicians in Arizona. He also worked in hospital administration. Dr. Speicher received his doctorate in public administration from Arizona State University, his master's in Health Administration from Duke University, and his bachelor’s in social work from the University of Akron.