Lisa A. Rossbacher

Lisa became the president of Southern Polytechnic State University in Marietta, GA in 1998. She earned her Ph.D. (Geological and Geophysical Sciences) at Princeton University, and she has worked for the U.S. Geological Survey, NASA, a geothermal exploration company, and National Public Radio, in addition to public and private institutions of higher education. She is the first woman geologist to become a university president in North America. Her bimonthly column has appeared in the magazine Geotimes (renamed Earth in 2008) since 1988, and she has authored books on geology, science, and the media.

Her research interests focus on the role of water and water ice on the planet Mars. In 1984, she was a finalist in NASA’s astronaut selection process. She was elected to Phi Beta Kappa as an undergraduate and to the status of Fellow in the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2001.

Dr. Rossbacher is the 2009 Chairwoman of the Cobb Chamber of Commerce. She is active in the Marietta Kiwanis and a board member of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce. She chaired the United Way of Cobb campaign in 2000. She served two consecutive years as Board Chair of the Atlanta Regional Consortium for Higher Education in 2006 and 2007, and she served as 2006 chair of the Cobb YMCA Board of Directors. Dr. Rossbacher received the 2006 “Glass Ceiling Award” from Cobb Executive Women and the 2007 “Liberty Bell Award” from the Cobb County Bar Association.

Her husband, Dr. Dallas D. Rhodes, chairs the Department of Geology and Geography at Georgia Southern University.

-September 2009

gsaf@geosociety.org (800) 472-1988 x 1054GSAF - P.O. Box 9140 - Boulder, CO 80301