Lori J. Bechtel-Wherry reflects on a decade of service as Chancellor and Dean
For more than thirty years, Lori J. Bechtel-Wherry has been a proud member of the Penn State Altoona family. She is a professor of biobehavioral health and women’s studies and a member of the University’s graduate faculty. On July 1, 2005, Bechtel-Wherry was appointed as Penn State Altoona’s chancellor and dean, the first woman to hold such a position in the college’s history.
As she celebrates her ten-year milestone as chancellor and dean of Penn State Altoona, Bechtel-Wherry reflects on her tenure at the helm of the college.
As you look back on your ten years as chancellor and dean, of what are you most proud?
Our child care/pre-school center—it’s something that I have wanted for our college for so long. My children are 31, 28, and 26 now, and they were 6, 3, and 1 when I first started to talk with others about creating a center on campus. So working with others to make that happen, to bring that project to fruition after all those years, is something of which I am very, very proud. And I’m proud of it because it’s the right thing for children and for families with working parents. It also provides a living laboratory for our students and academic programs, and it has helped us when recruiting faculty and staff. When the Presidential Task Force on Childcare, of which I was a member, held up our center as an example of excellence for the whole University, it was a wonderful moment for our college and for me personally.
Penn State Altoona has achieved many successes under your tenure. What do you consider to be its greatest successes and to what do you attribute this success?
I immediately think of the quality of our academic programs, and the quality of our faculty. Any good college is built on hiring good faculty and staff to support its mission. We owe our success to these people who have been dedicated and done so much to make our college better.
I also recognize the strong bond that we have with our community. Our community has been supportive of our campus and college long before I was here. Our community is very special and has always supported our college in every way. Also, we have always had an Advisory Board with uncommon vision. It is the combination of community support for the college and hiring the right people that has allowed us to have such great success over the years.
Collectively, we have enjoyed many successes. A notable point in our history was in 1997 when we became a four-year degree-granting college. To have the opportunity to work with others to create our college is certainly one of the highlights of my career. We now offer twenty-two baccalaureate degrees and a host of minors, and we have graduated thousands of students who have gone on to achieve great success. It is very rewarding to see our graduates making such positive differences in our world. And, we have dozens of faculty and staff who have won University-wide, community, and national awards and recognitions. Our work with our community and donors to create our downtown campus is certainly a highlight as well. And, our recent success with the For the Future Campaign in raising nearly $26M is remarkable. We could not have done that without the support of our alumni, donors, and community friends.
Who have been your mentors in your role as chancellor and dean?
My mentors have influenced me throughout my life, not just as chancellor. And first and foremost would be my mother. She is just a very loving person, is supportive, and always in my corner. I also look to Claudia Limbert, who was the former CEO of Penn State DuBois; she gave me great advice when I was a division head at Altoona. She said, “Lori, always love your faculty and staff. If you do that, if you care about the people, it will serve you well.” I think that’s really good advice. Also shortly after I became chancellor I attended a professional conference that was specifically geared to newly-hired college presidents and chancellors. I had the opportunity to have lunch with a retired and seasoned former president whose advice was to always be myself, not take myself too seriously, and to have a good sense of humor. I try to do all three of those things in my role as chancellor and in my life in general.
I count Secretary Madeleine Albright as a mentor. We hosted her on campus as part of our Speaker Series and I had the opportunity to have dinner with her and to talk with her at length. I had always admired her and enjoyed watching her as the first female Secretary of State. I read her books and watched how she comported herself. I remember reading an interview with her years ago and the interviewer asked her ‘to what would you attribute your successes, being the first woman Secretary of State and working in what is primarily a man’s world?’ Her answer was two-fold: she said to know what you are talking about—do your homework and be prepared to interrupt. I thought that this advice was priceless. Sometimes we need to speak up and out to be heard. At our dinner together we discussed that interview and the advice she had given and I told her that it had served me well. She and I shared our stories, and while the context was different, we had some very similar experiences. It was a great evening and we created a special bond. When she was leaving she told me to call on her any time if I thought that she could be of help. That was a touching moment.
What has been your biggest challenge, frustration, or disappointment?
The biggest frustration has been both a blessing and a challenge. Working at a large, complex university provides so many wonderful resources and opportunities, but because it’s such a big, complex organization, it can be difficult to get things accomplished in a timely manner. It can be frustrating when you know what you want to accomplish but it takes quite a while to do so. So you just have to be patient, and persistent.
What are the keys to being a successful chancellor?
Surround yourself with good people and trust them to do their jobs. Have a strong work ethic and be willing to help others. Gather information from stakeholders before making decisions and create an environment where people are willing to speak up, offer opinions, and to respectfully disagree. Do the right thing—always. And just be yourself. Because I’m the chancellor, people sometimes look at me differently, and I understand that. But my job’s not more important than anyone else’s. It is vitally important to create an environment where everyone is valued and respected and feels valued and respected, regardless of their position. It is important to help everyone understand that it takes all of us working together to ensure success.
I believe that a good leader is a servant leader and should be involved in his or her community. One needs to build good relationships with various constituencies.
I believe that truly caring about and liking people is important as well. A good leader gives credit to others for their ideas and accomplishments and empowers others to accomplish their goals. Being a good listener is important as is knowing when to follow. It is important to let others do their jobs and make their own decisions. Creating an environment that encourages creativity and taking calculated risks is vital in allowing folks to have space to be entrepreneurial in the workplace. People need to know that it’s okay to experiment and to make mistakes now and then. And allowing folks to have some fun in the workplace is essential.
What’s most fun about the job?
The people. Working with students. I get to work with and meet so many interesting people and interact with wonderful folks in our community, across the University, and beyond. I love celebrating the successes of faculty and staff when they get awards or accomplish great things. It’s fun to nominate folks for recognition and to celebrate with them when they are selected. It’s great to deliver the news to faculty that they have earned tenure and promotion, or promotion to full professor. And it’s wonderful to see our students volunteering in our community and positively impacting others, or getting internships, great jobs, or going onto to graduate school. That’s the best part—seeing the successes of others, particularly our students, faculty, and staff. And I truly enjoy meeting new people and making new friends, and I have been able to do both in my role as chancellor.
What advice would you give yourself if you could go back ten years to when you began in this position?
Don’t sweat the small stuff. Don’t take yourself too seriously and it’s okay to make mistakes. Keep a good sense of humor. Surround yourself with good people. And don’t worry about what people say. As long as you’ve done your homework, consulted with others as appropriate, and you do what you think is best given that information and consultation, you can be confident in what you are doing. I would also tell myself to be very, very patient.
Fill in the blank: If I wasn’t the chancellor of Penn State Altoona, I would …
Own my own lawn care business. I love to mow grass.
How have you changed since you took this position?
I’ve learned how to let things roll off of me. The first year and a half beat me up a lot; it took a good year and a half for me to be able to sleep well. And then I realized that I had to either find something else to do or change the way I reacted to stressful situations. I chose the latter.
I have realized that, as long as I make the best decisions based upon all of the information I can obtain, that I can live with myself and feel comfortable and confident with my decisions and actions. And if I make a mistake, I will admit it, fix it if at all possible, apologize to anyone affected by it, and then I move on. We all make mistakes; it’s how we deal with them and learn from them that is most important.
One of the things I’ve learned with experience is that there’s always going to be a highlight in a day, and there’s always going to be a low point. And there’s always a way to get through it. That’s why it’s important to have a good team. You don’t have to bear it all yourself.
So I’ve learned a lot. I think I’ve gotten wiser and more patient. I’ve learned not to take myself so seriously. I’ve made mistakes and I’ve learned that it’s okay to do so, and that I don’t have to be perfect. In fact, it’s impossible to be perfect.
Three words to describe this job.
Challenging. Rewarding. Cool.
What do you miss about your pre-chancellor life?
Time. I miss time to write and do research. I miss being in the classroom and teaching our students, interacting with them and mentoring them on a daily basis. Sometimes I miss just being Lori and not having this title; people often perceive me in a different way because of my title.
What are you looking forward to in your post-chancellor life?
New opportunities and adventures perhaps in academia. I’ve always wanted to join the Peace Corps, so I may try my hand at that. I have a few business ideas. I will continue to travel and volunteer, and I will enjoy having more time to spend with my family.
