Professional Biography
Julie E. Wollman, President Emerita of Widener University, is an experienced higher education leader and a nationally recognized innovator in higher education strategy development. For more than a decade, Dr. Wollman served as the president of Widener University and, before that, Edinboro University, following experiences as a provost and vice president for academic affairs, dean, doctoral program director, and tenured full professor, in both public and private higher education institutions. Her areas of expertise include the presidency in higher education; leadership qualities and ethical leadership; scenario planning and creative design of college and university strategy; the imperative for change and effective change management in higher education; and the future of higher education. She is a frequent commentator and dynamic speaker on these and other education-related issues, appearing regularly in print, online, and broadcast media outlets and as a keynote speaker.
During her presidency of Widener University, Dr. Wollman designed an innovative approach to strategy development using scenarios to envision various futures and focusing on strategic direction rather than traditional tactical plans that quickly become outdated in times of accelerated change. The process has been recognized nationally as an emerging best practice. In 2017, Dr. Wollman launched Common Ground, an initiative designed to encourage reasoned, respectful discourse on challenging topics. The Common Ground project continues to garner national attention as a model for campus dialogue. Under her leadership, Widener University significantly increased the diversity of its student body, faculty, and staff; reduced the graduation equity gap; established an array of successful new health sciences graduate programs with an interprofessional and community-informed focus; expanded the university’s pro bono community clinic in a renovated building designed for this purpose that now bears her name; broadly expanded undergraduate research opportunities; was recognized multiple times as a Great College to Work For in the annual national survey; and established a deep commitment to shared governance.
Dr. Wollman has served on the boards of numerous local, regional, and national organizations. Most recently, she was board vice-president for the Riverfront Alliance of Delaware County, an economic development organization; she served as board secretary and led strategic planning for the Middle Atlantic Conference of the NCAA; she served on the executive committee of board of the Baldwin School; and she was on the boards of the Global Philadelphia Association and Crozer Health. She was a presidential sponsor for the PA American Council on Education Women’s Network; served on EAB’s Presidents Advisory Council; mentored an ACE Fellow; was a member of the Chamber of Commerce of Greater Philadelphia Board of Directors; and chaired the Chamber’s Regional College and University Presidents’ Alliance. As chair of the Presidents’ Alliance she led a project uniting the myriad member institutions, in partnership with local business and industry leaders, to advocate for the value of higher education as a public good and an economic imperative to ensure a thriving region and strong, healthy communities. She also established a series of panels on pressing issues for higher education post-pandemic, including flexible work programs, digital transformation, and campus space. She currently serves on the Board of the American Association of University Administrators (AAUA) and led the development of AAUA’s Statement of Ethics for leaders.
Dr. Wollman’s recent publications appear in Journal of Higher Education Management, Trusteeship, the Chronicle of Higher Education, and Inside Higher Ed. She is the recipient of numerous teaching, academic, and professional awards and recognitions. Additionally, she was named by the Philadelphia Business Journal as a “2017 Women of Distinction” and one of its “People to Watch for 2018,” as well as one of Main Line Today magazine’s 2017 “Women on the Move.” In 2019 she was recognized as a prominent education leader by Authority Magazine.
Prior to joining GSE as a professor of practice, she was a guest speaker and panelist for classes and other events at the School, including a panel of GSE alumni who became college presidents, and she served on five dissertation committees for the executive doctorate and traditional format Ph.D. and Ed.D. programs.
Research Interests and Current Projects
Dr. Wollman’s research interests include identifying and describing the qualities and skills of effective, ethical, and strategic leaders; communication and the discourse of leadership; change management; and innovative approaches to strategy development.
Drawing on her own experience as president of two universities, she explores and elucidates the work of college presidents. She has written about what leaders learn from occupying the position of a student and, as the first female president of two universities, she has written and spoken extensively about the concept of women’s leadership. Her work also includes a focus on college and university boards, how to design impactful board orientation and education, and board diversity.
An advocate for the transformative power of education, she regularly teaches courses to incarcerated individuals and has presented on her collaborative work on the impact of prison education in the U.S. and internationally.
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