“As president of Eastern Washington University, I am passionate about creating a thriving, inclusive campus for students and am committed to working with faculty, staff and the community to strengthen the Eagle experience and ensure Eastern graduates are ready to be the innovative, creative, and confident leaders our communities need.”
“I can’t express enough my gratitude and honor to serve as president of Eastern Washington University. We have a bright future, a clear path, and a community of support that will continue to propel us forward.”
– President Shari McMahan, PhD
President McMahan, a first-generation college student, has both a bachelor’s degree and a doctoral degree in social ecology from UC Irvine and a master’s degree in health science from Cal State Northridge. She came to EWU in 2022 after serving as the provost and vice president for academic affairs at California State University, San Bernardino, the first woman provost in CSUSB’s history. She has been awarded more than $5 million in external grant funding, authored more than 50 peer-reviewed publications, delivered dozens of scientific and community presentations, and served on numerous professional task forces.
President McMahan is honored to lead Eastern and looks forward to continuing to fulfill the institution’s mission to expand opportunities for personal transformation through excellence in learning.
One of our strategic planning initiatives is to work toward the federal designation of an Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI). For an institution to qualify as an HSI, it must have at least a 25% Latinx/Hispanic student population.
The Catalyst serves as the hub of innovation, bringing EWU students and faculty together with local business and industry experts in this state-of-the-art space never before seen in our area. EWU is pushing the creative and high-tech vitality of the region forward by forming these robust public-private partnerships to solve real problems.
The Prairie Restoration Project is a plan that will restore EWU farmland to native habitat and preserve natural land on campus that will foster research and educational opportunities, increase biodiversity, and provide recreational space on multi-use trails.
Within the Lucy Covington Initiative, emphasis areas have been identified: supporting future leaders; creating a confluence of culture and causes; and development of a Lucy Covington archives.
