Sister Peg Albert, OP, PhD, was named the 10th President of Siena Heights University in 2006. She received a bachelor’s of arts degree in sociology from Wayne State University in Detroit, Mich., and master’s and doctorate degrees in social work from Barry University in Miami, Fla. She did her post-doctoral work at the Institute for Educational Management at Harvard Graduate School of Education in Cambridge, Mass., and completed post-doctoral classes at Barry.

Since arriving at Siena Heights, Sister Peg has led several new initiatives, including the establishment of a nursing program, which conducted its first classes in fall 2008. During her tenure as president, Siena Heights has seen increases in both enrollment and fundraising. Her student-centered approach has meant physical improvements to the residence halls, dining hall and student union. In spring 2008, she announced Siena Heights was freezing tuition rates for its Adrian campus undergraduate students for a 2008-09 academic year, a move almost unprecedented for small, private universities.

An associate professor of social work, she served as a counselor at Barry for 12 years. She was named Barry’s associate vice president for Student Services in 1988. In that position Albert oversaw student services such as the campus health center, campus ministry and the student development center. In 1994, she was promoted to executive vice president at Barry, an institution also sponsored by the Adrian Dominicans.

Before coming to Siena Heights, Sister Peg guided the newly purchased Barry University School of Law in 2001. Serving as its chief administrator, Barry’s law school earned accreditation from the American Bar Association – at the time one of only two law institutions in the nation founded and headed by women to earn that distinction.