Pamela Whitten is the 19th president of Indiana University and the first woman to lead IU, a world-class public research university with seven campuses throughout Indiana.

Under her leadership, IU has emphasized three core missions: providing broad access to an education for all students from Indiana and beyond; pursuing world-class research, scholarship and creative activity; and making meaningful contributions to improving Hoosier health and the economic, social, civic and cultural development of the state and the world.

During her first year in office, Whitten accelerated the university’s efforts to hire and retain diverse faculty and researchers, strengthened IU’s commitment to sustainability, and renewed its focus on student mental health. She has placed a strong emphasis on prioritizing students across the state, appointing the university’s first Vice President for Student Success.

The state’s flagship university since 1820, IU has a record of leading innovation and advancing research and partnerships throughout the region that has continued during Whitten’s tenure. In 2022, the IU School of Medicine, the largest medical school in the nation, celebrated record-breaking funding from the National Institutes of Health, and IU expanded enrollment and growth of its nursing program to address the state’s nursing shortage.

Before joining IU, Whitten held a variety of leadership roles, including serving as a dean for five years at Michigan State University, senior vice president for Academic Affairs and provost at the University of Georgia, and as president of Kennesaw State University. She is an internationally recognized expert in the field of telemedicine, holding a Ph.D. in communication studies and a Master of Arts in communication.