Office of the President
President Elizabeth A. Rider
President Elizabeth A. Rider is a distinguished leader in higher education with more than 30 years of dedicated service to the institution. Named President of Elizabethtown College in January 2022, she has held numerous leadership and faculty roles throughout her tenure, most recently serving as Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs.
As Provost, President Rider led significant academic innovations, including restructuring academic programs and establishing the College’s formal School structure. Her leadership was instrumental in launching a five-year Physician Assistant (PA) Studies program and expanding Elizabethtown’s highly regarded Occupational Therapy program to include a Doctorate in Occupational Therapy (OTD).
Since becoming President, she has championed enrollment growth — welcoming the College’s largest incoming class in over a decade in 2023 and achieving a record number of applications in 2025. Under her leadership, the College has surpassed fundraising goals and reached a historic endowment milestone of over $100 million. She has also driven the transformation of the School of Graduate and Professional Studies by introducing new online programs and platforms to meet the evolving needs of learners.
President Rider is currently leading the College’s five-year Strategic Plan, which emphasizes academic innovation, civil rights and access, and strategic partnerships that strengthen Elizabethtown’s mission and impact.
She also serves as a member of the Board of Directors for the Association of Independent Colleges & Universities of Pennsylvania (AICUP), contributing to statewide efforts that advocate for independent higher education.
Her visionary leadership has earned regional and statewide recognition, including being named to the City & State Pennsylvania Trailblazers in Higher Education list in 2024 and the Central Penn Business Journal Power 100 list in 2025.
Request the President
Contact the Office of the President
Lisa A. Wolfe
Executive Assistant to the President's Office & Board of Relations
wolfel@etown.edu | 717-361-1193
About President Rider
President Rider has had a long career at Elizabethtown College, spending the first half as a faculty member in the Department of Psychology and the second half in various administrative positions.
Her teaching included courses on Developmental Psychology, Applied Developmental Psychology, Exceptional Children, Educational Psychology, Research in Developmental, and Psychology of Women. Her early research focused on young children's spatial orientation and abilities as well as the construction of gender. She published a textbook on the psychology of women, Women's Voices, with both Brooks/Cole (1st ed) and Wiley (2nd ed). With her colleague Carol Sigelman (The George Washington University), she has written multiple editions of a popular Life-Span Human Development text, now going into its 10th edition with Cengage Learning.
She assumed the position of Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs in 2016. In this position, she was the Chief Academic Officer of the College and provided appropriate leadership with other administrators. She worked closely with the Associate Provosts and Deans and provided strategic direction and oversight to the College's academic programs, including those offered through the School of Graduate and Professional Studies.
President Rider is a graduate of Gettysburg College and has a master’s and doctoral degree in psychology from Vanderbilt University. She also completed Harvard’s Institute for Educational Management. President Rider lives in Elizabethtown with her family.
“I am honored to lead Elizabethtown College as its 16th president and thank the Board of Trustees for their vote of confidence and support. As a longtime Blue Jay, the time for growth and opportunity has never been better for the institution. With our already growing momentum with enrollment, academic programming, and strengthening and building relationships within the community, I am excited and energized to continue to elevate our College’s greatest assets and build a strong sense of belonging for all.”
-President Elizabeth A. Rider