LOCK HAVEN, Pa. - Dr. Barbara B. Dixon, President of Lock Haven University, will be the featured speaker at the university’s commencement ceremonies May 6 and 7, 2011.Commencement for the College of Arts and Sciences will take place in Thomas Fieldhouse on Friday, May 6 at 7:30 p.m. Commencement for the College of Education and Human Services will take place in Thomas Fieldhouse will take place on Saturday, May 7 at 10:00 a.m. Tickets are required for both ceremonies.

A former president of Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri, assumed her position as interim president of Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania on July 1, 2010. In July 2011, Dr. Dixon will become Provost of Purchase College of the State University of New York.

“Delivering the commencement address will be a real honor,” said Dr. Dixon. “I welcome the opportunity to say a few words to the graduates that will, I hope, help guide them on their way to personal and professional success. It will also be a final opportunity to thank the assembled university community for their trust and support during the past year.”
According to Dr. Stephen Streator, chair of the committee that chose the May 2011 commencement speaker, “We asked Dr. Dixon to speak at this year's Commencement as she has experienced many difficult changes over her short time at LHU; and faces many more in the upcoming months.” He added, “In just this one year, she has needed to make some tough decisions and become a leader in a new environment that was not very familiar. We felt that our students would benefit hearing her advice about how to handle these challenges as they will now be faced with some of the same situations in their personal and professional lives as they enter the real world.”
Prior to coming to Lock Haven University, Dr. Dixon served as president of Truman State University from 2003 to 2008 and spent another year as a consultant to the institution’s Board of Governors. She currently is a senior consultant with Myers-McRae Higher Education Executive Search.
She has served on the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s President’s Council and the Professional Development Committee of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU). She was president of the Council of Public Higher Education, the organization that comprises the CEOs of Missouri’s four-year public universities, and the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges, a national consortium of public liberal arts colleges.
She previously was provost and vice president for academic affairs and a professor of music at State University of New York College at Geneseo. She also spent nearly 27 years at Central Michigan University, where she was a faculty member, an associate dean and interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. She started her career as a K-12 public music school teacher in the small rural community of Capac, Michigan.
Dr. Dixon earned both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in music from Michigan State University and a Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance, Literature and Pedagogy from the University of Colorado.