Lindsey Wilson College

Lutgring Named Vice President for Academic Affairs

Ray Lutgring Named Vice President for Academic Affairs at Lindsey Wilson College

lutgring

COLUMBIA, Ky. -- Veteran educator Ray Lutgring has been named vice president for academic affairs of Lindsey Wilson College. 

Lutgring, who has nearly 30 years of higher-education experience, comes to Lindsey Wilson from the University of (Indiana) Evansville, where he was dean of the college of arts and sciences for the last ten years.

“Dr. Lutgring is exactly the right person to lead the college through the exciting years on the horizon,” said LWC President William T. Luckey Jr. “He inherits an incredibly talented faculty who love our students and our mission.”

Lutgring was selected to lead LWC’s academic programs following a national search to replace outgoing Vice President for Academic Affairs Patricia Parrish, who oversaw the College’s academic programs for the last six years. 

“Ray is a proven leader with outstanding credentials who understands the vital role that a church-related college plays in today’s higher education landscape.”

Lutgring said he was attracted to LWC because he can identify with its student body and what it means to be a first-generation college student. 

“I didn’t always know I was going to college,” Lutgring explained. “I came from a blue-collar background and I found my way to a regional public university only because I did well in high school. Going to college changed everything for me.” 

The type of students LWC serves and its strong sense of mission checked all the right boxes for Lutgring. 

“There are far more Pell-eligible, first-generation students at Lindsey Wilson than at my former institution – students who are much like I was at the same age,” Lutgring says. “This was an important distinction as I looked at schools. Accepting this position is a chance for me to give back and help them.”  

Among Lutgring’s priorities include working with faculty and students to offer more experiential learning opportunities. 

“I would like to encourage undergraduate research as much as possible and part of that stems from my own experience,” said Lutgring.  “As an undergraduate, I didn’t really know what that was about but I got the opportunity to work in someone’s lab and it was a great experience. It’s probably one of the things that taught me what graduate school was because I don’t even think I understood what that meant at the time.”

Over the last 15 years, Lindsey Wilson's academic programs have experienced dramatic growth. The college's full-time faculty expanded from 73 to 118; two graduate programs have been added along with a doctorate program in counseling education and supervision; the Class of 2023 was the largest-ever graduation class in the history of the college and fall enrollment topped 3,000 students for the first time last year.  

In just his third week on the job, Lutgring announced the addition of a new academic school. The School of Graduate Business and Technology will be the sixth academic school for LWC. It will house the Master of Science in Technology Management and the Master of Business Administration along with any new graduate programs in business.

Lutgring earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Indiana State University and a doctorate degree in organic chemistry from Purdue (Indiana) University. He has lectured and written about a broad range of higher-education topics with emphasis on topics in chemistry. 

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