R Lorraine Bernotsky

Bernotsky currently is serving as interim president of Pennsylvania Western University, which was the new entity formed over a year ago when California, Clarion and Edinboro universities were merged. She took the position in July and previously served as the school’s executive vice president and chief operating officer, a position she began last October. She has been “on loan” to Penn West from West Chester, according to Penn West’s website. In an unusual move, West Chester University’s Council of Trustees on Thursday approved a resolution that would make Bernotsky, who has worked at West Chester for about 27 years. She started at West Chester in 1996 as a faculty member, then associate provost and dean of graduate studies, followed by provost in 2015 and executive vice president in 2017. She got her master’s and doctorate in politics at the University of Oxford and a master’s in sociology at Temple.