Biography

Dr. Sheila Edwards Lange was appointed to serve as Chancellor of the University of Washington Tacoma in September 2021. As the chief executive officer of the campus she provides leadership on all campus matters. She has a wide range of experience in higher education administration and has been a leading advocate for diversity and inclusion throughout her career.

Prior to her position at UW Tacoma, Dr. Lange served as President of Seattle Central College (SCC). Under her leadership, Seattle Central strengthened relationships with community partners to create new academic programs, broadened equity and inclusion initiatives and enhanced student support services to better promote student success. She played a key leadership role in the establishment of the Seattle Promise partnership with the City of Seattle to provide two years of free tuition to graduates of Seattle Public Schools.

From 2007 to 2015, Dr. Lange served as Vice President and Vice Provost for Minority Affairs & Diversity at UW in Seattle. In that role she led the creation of UW’s first Diversity Blueprint and spearheaded the incorporation of diversity, equity and inclusion goals in UW’s response to the Great Recession, the “Two Years to Two Decades” (2Y2D) strategic planning effort.

Dr. Lange has been an active contributor to many civic and educational boards both locally and nationally to advance educational excellence and inclusion. She currently serves on the boards of Pugh Capital Management, the Seattle Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, Washington Campus Compact, AAA Washington and the Seattle Art Museum. She is a past national president of the Women in Engineering Pro-Active Network.

She is the recipient of numerous awards including the Washington State Association of College Trustees’ 2020 CEO of the Year, Puget Sound Business Journal’s 2021 Director of the Year and 2011 Woman of Influence, and the 2013 UW College of Education Distinguished Alumni Award.

Dr. Lange was born in the small town of Pachuta, Miss., and, as a first-generation college student, received a bachelor’s degree in social ecology from the University of California, Irvine. She earned a doctorate in educational leadership and policy studies and a Master of Public Administration from the University of Washington in Seattle.