Dr. Laura Bloomberg Named Eighth Cleveland State University President

Cleveland State University announced today that the Board of Trustees has named Laura Bloomberg, Ph.D. as the university’s eighth president. Dr. Bloomberg replaces Harlan Sands, who served as CSU’s president since 2018.

Dr. Bloomberg, a nationally recognized leader in public and global policy education, became Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs on September 1, 2021, following an extensive national search. She previously served eight years as Dean and as Associate Dean of the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota.

“We are very pleased that in Dr. Bloomberg we have an energetic, dynamic and highly qualified academic leader already within our ranks who is exceedingly prepared to lead this university as it emerges from a very challenging period,” said David Reynolds, CSU Board of Trustees chairman. “During her relatively brief tenure at CSU, she has quickly demonstrated her ability to work well with faculty and students, as well as excellent external relations and fundraising skills.”

Over Dr. Bloomberg’s 24-year academic career at the University of Minnesota, her research focused on community-based leadership, program evaluation, public value creation, cross-cultural dialogue and educational policy.

Under her leadership, the Humphrey School achieved and sustained a Top 10 U.S. News & World Report ranking for public affairs schools, launched three new successful intercollegiate degrees, tripled its community-engaged research portfolio and substantially diversified the student body, faculty and administration.

In addition, Dr. Bloomberg led the global expansion of the school, established a national pathway program for college students underrepresented in public policymaking, launched an internationally focused human rights degree, and developed the Mandela Washington Fellowship program to support young leaders from countries across Africa. She also successfully led the Humphrey School’s $20 million Leading Together fundraising campaign.

“Since moving to Cleveland last summer my husband Jon and I have been warmly welcomed and we have come to feel very much at home in this community as we transplant our Midwestern roots,” said Dr. Bloomberg. “I have been inspired by the fundamental strengths and resiliency of both the community and this university, and I look forward to a very exciting future together.”

Dr. Bloomberg holds a doctoral degree in educational policy and administration from the University of Minnesota, master’s degrees in psychometrics and educational psychology from Cornell University and a bachelor’s degree in special education from St. Cloud State University.

She and her husband Jon, an environmental attorney, are the parents of two adult children, Elisabeth and Andrew.