IUP Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Lara Luetkehans with former Pennsylvania Representative and EPLC Founder and Senior Fellow Ronald Cowell.
Indiana University of Pennsylvania Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Lara Luetkehans has been recognized by the Educational Policy Leadership Center as a 2025 Educational Policy Leadership Program Alumni Award recipient.
The awards are presented annually to individuals who have demonstrated exceptional leadership in education policy and who have completed an EPLC leadership program.
Luetkehans was selected by the EPLC Board of Directors for her significant contributions to education policy and practice in Pennsylvania and beyond. More than 700 educators have completed an EPLC leadership program since 1999; less than 50 of them have been chosen for this award.
“I am honored and humbled to be selected for this award, especially by this prestigious and respected educational leadership organization,” Provost Luetkehans said. “It’s a time of very rapid change in education, so organizations like the Education Policy and Leadership Center play a critical role in creating recommendations to meet the needs of schools and students, and offering leadership programs for the teachers, administrators, and policy makers in the education community,” she said.
Provost Luetkehans came to IUP in 2013, selected to serve as the dean of the (then) IUP College of Education and Educational Technology. In her role as dean, she championed the College’s commitment to diversity and inclusion and partnered with the IUP Office of International Education on an immersive professional development program for international teachers, which has provided close to $2 million in grant funds to IUP for the program. As dean, she successfully guided her college through a number of professional accreditations and reaffirmations of accreditations.
Following the retirement of the IUP provost in 2021, she was named interim provost and vice president for Academic Affairs. In 2022, after a national search, IUP President Michael Driscoll selected her to serve in the provost and vice president position.
In her role as interim provost and as provost, she has been a leader in IUP’s academic review and restructuring process, focused on the goals of IUP’s strategic plan and its prioritization of student success.
Provost Luetkehans came to IUP from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, where she served as a department chair and faculty member in educational technology, research, and assessment. She earned her doctorate in instructional technology from the University of Georgia in Athens, her master’s in library and information science from Dominican University in River Forest, Illinois, and her bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Loyola University in Chicago.
The mission of the Education Policy and Leadership Center is to encourage and support the development and implementation of effective state-level education policies to improve student learning in grades P-12, increase the effective operation of schools, and enhance educational opportunities for citizens of all ages. The Center was created in 1998 by former Pennsylvania Representative Ronald Cowell. Former Rep. Cowell served 24 years in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, including as Education Committee chair and member of the State Board of Education for 12 years.
Since its founding in 1875, IUP has evolved from a teacher-training institution into a doctoral research university recognized for its commitment to student success and achievement. As IUP celebrates its 150th anniversary in 2025 and through the Impact 150 comprehensive campaign, the university honors a legacy of educational excellence while looking to its next 150 years of student success, innovation, leadership in healthcare education, and public service.