FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 17, 2010
Contact: Anika Mitchell Perkins
(662) 329-7124
aperkins@pa.muw.edu

Farewell reception to be held in honor of MUW president

COLUMBUS, Miss. – A farewell reception will be held in honor of Dr. Claudia A. Limbert, Mississippi University for Women’s 13th president, on Wednesday, June 2 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. in Cochran Ball Room. The community is invited to attend.

Limbert is retiring after more than eight years of dedication and will be leaving behind an impressive legacy.

Notable accomplishments during her tenure:

Increasing enrollment to nearly 2,500 students in the fall, a 17.5 percent increase from fall 2002 to fall 2009 enrollment

Increasing foundation endowment levels, up from $16 million in 2002 to more than $32 million

Securing more than $5 million in congressionally-directed grants for academic programs, institutes and other campus initiatives

Earning top spots in prestigious rankings including No. 7 out of 80 southern institutions in U.S. News & World Report’s commitment to teaching category.

Originally from Missouri, Dr. Limbert married and had four children before beginning college. She received a bachelor's degree in English, history and education from Bethel College in Kansas in 1978, and she received a master's degree in creative writing in 1980 and a doctorate in English literature in 1988, both from Boston University.

In 1988, Dr. Limbert began her career as an English and women's studies professor at Pennsylvania State University, Shenango. She was then selected as an administrative fellow, spending the next year in leadership training under the direction of a senior vice president at Penn State, University Park.

Following that experience, she became the director of academic affairs at Penn State, DuBois. After then serving as acting campus executive officer for a short time, she was selected for the permanent position in 1998, a position she held until being appointed president of MUW.