Pareena Gupta Lawrence
Dr. Pareena Lawrence serves as Visiting Professor of Social Science (Economics) at Yale-NUS. She is also a senior fellow at Yale University in New Haven, CT, working on strategic projects for the Office of International Affairs, and as an international development scholar. More recently she served as the president at Hollins University and Provost at Augustana College where she provided academic leadership and strategic direction for the university.
As a teacher, mentor, scholar, and leader, she prides herself on building relationships and teams that foster creativity, innovation, and collaboration to support the undergraduate student experience and the work of the faculty.
Dr. Lawrence received her M.A. in economics from the Delhi School of Economics, and an M.S. and Ph.D. in economics from Purdue University. She started her academic career at the University of Minnesota, Morris (UMM), a public liberal arts college. Dr. Lawrence’s accomplishment as a teacher, mentor, scholar, and academic leader have prompted the conferral of a number of awards throughout her career, including the All University Morse Alumni Teaching Award, UMM Alumni Teaching Award, and the César Chavez Award, among others.
Dr. Lawrence’s administrative experience began as the coordinator of the economics and management department; the gender, women, and sexuality studies department; and the First-Year Seminar Program at UMM. Subsequently, she served as the Interim Director of the Multiethnic Student Program and as the Chair of the Division of Social Science. In her academic career, Dr. Lawrence played a key leadership role at UMM in accreditation efforts, retention efforts, rebranding and marketing efforts, and in the development and implementation of the strategic plan.
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Dr. Lawrence is a development economist by training and her research explores the intersections of gender, families, the economy and politics, particularly issues of household decision-making, dowry, and political participation. Her current research focuses on the empowerment of women through reservation in political participation in north India. She has authored or co-authored a number of book chapters, journal articles, and reports.
In her role at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, and at Hollins University, Dr. Lawrence’s priorities include improving student learning, retention, and advising and mentoring efforts. She has facilitated the process to map the curriculum to the college-wide student learning outcomes, integrating the learning that is often only attributed to the academic curriculum with co-curricular activities as part of a residential liberal arts college experience and has successfully guided the college through its 10-year accreditation. As part of the current strategic plan, she has led the effort to re-envision the professional development programs offered for students, ensuring all students have access to experiential learning opportunities and student success programs.
As Dean of the faculty, she led the effort to create the re-envisioned Center for Faculty Enrichment, the Faculty leadership Academy, the Academic Initiative Fund, revised the funding for endowed faculty positions and new faculty grant opportunities for digital innovation, community connections, and professional development.
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