Dr. Patricia Picard Cormier is an educator and higher education administrator who is known for her personal warmth, boundless energy, infectious enthusiasm, and commitment to learning. For nearly 40 years she has been a senior administrator at seven institutions of higher learning.

She has master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Virginia and a bachelor’s degree from Boston University. She has also studied at Columbia University and the University of Bridgeport. Her academic specialty is health promotion and preventive health behavior.

Dr. Cormier’s honors include selection as one of 30 fellows nationwide to participate in the American Council on Education’s fellowship program in academic administration in 1982-83, a master’s degree Honoris causa from the University of Pennsylvania in 1982, election to three national honor societies, selection as a Fellow of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, and honorary degrees from Fontbonne University and Southside Virginia Community College.  She has published two highly regarded books in her field: Community Oral Health: A Systems Approach and Educating the Dentists of the Future. She also contributed a chapter, "Preserving and Extending the Academic Mission of Vulnerable Institutions: Best Practices for Chief Academic Officers" in the book Turnaround: Leading Stressed Colleges and Universities to Excellence.

Before becoming Longwood’s 24th president in 1996, Dr. Cormier was vice president for academic affairs and professor of educational leadership at Winthrop University, a comprehensive public institution of 5,300 students in Rock Hill, S.C. She oversaw more than 500 faculty and staff in four schools/colleges, as well as graduate and continuing studies, conferences, information management, the library, enrollment management, and institutional research.

She has been involved in academic administration since 1964, beginning at Tufts University in Boston in a newly created Department of Social Dentistry. She prepared dental practitioners for service in Vietnam and organized care for underserved patients in Massachusetts.

Four years later she went to the University of Virginia, where she administered the Department of Pediatrics’ $5 million grant to provide comprehensive health care to thousands of impoverished children in Albemarle, Buckingham, Cumberland, Nelson, and Greene counties.

Later, she was at the University of Pennsylvania as a tenured professor in dental care systems and periodontology. She became associate dean of academic affairs in the school of dental medicine and directed major grants totaling in excess of $6 million.

After a one-year American Council on Education fellowship at Wilson College in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, she served as the college’s vice president and dean from 1984 to 1988. Under her leadership, enrollment increased by 56 percent, and the college was fully reaccredited by the Middle States Association in 1987-88.

From 1989 to 1993 she was vice president for development and alumni relations at the Medical College of Pennsylvania. She conducted the largest capital campaign in the college’s history -- $65 million to build a new medical school, endow 15 scholarships, and increase by $10 million the scholarship endowment -- and also assumed fund-raising responsibility for three other hospitals that later merged with the Medical College.

In addition to her many community and collegiate responsibilities, Dr. Cormier serves as chair of the Lead Virginia Board and Council of Presidents (COPS), was appointed by the Governor to serve on the Information Technology Investment Board as well as the Philpott Commission and also serves on the Faculty Development Committee of the University of Virginia Medical School, and Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine Board at Drexel University.  Dr. Cormier served as the past chair of the Executive Committee of the Renaissance Group, past chair of the NCAA Division II Presidents’ Council, and past chair of the Council of Fellows of the American Council on Education.   She served as a Commissioner on the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools’ Commission on Colleges, and is the past Chair of the Board of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU), a higher education organization whose membership is comprised of more than 430 colleges, universities, and systems of public higher education throughout the United States and its territories.    Dr. Cormier has worked with the campus community to develop and implement a new Mission, Vision, and Goals Statement for the University. This strategic plan for the future of Longwood is embodied in the first sentence of the Mission Statement: “Longwood University is an institution of higher learning dedicated to the development of citizen leaders who are prepared to make positive contributions to the common good of society ...”

One of the proudest achievements for both Dr. Cormier and her husband, First Gent Dr. Raymond Cormier, was the establishment in 2004 of the Cormier Honors College for Citizen Scholars.  This signature honors program provides “select students with opportunities to enhance their educational experiences while contributing to the betterment of society.” 

Under the leadership of Dr. Cormier, and for the twelfth consecutive year, Longwood was included in the America's Best Colleges 2009 rankings by U.S.News & World Report, advancing to the #8 Tier One position ranking among public Southern universities that grant master's degrees. The university moved up from #32 to #25 for public and private Southern universities offering master's degrees.  Longwood was also cited for its excellent freshman retention rate of 77.2 percent.