President of Salisbury University

Janet Dudley-Eshbach became the eighth president of Salisbury University in June 2000, the first woman to hold the office in the University's 75-year history. At SU, she has launched presidential initiatives promoting shared governance, internationalization, and diversity and inclusiveness among faculty, staff, and students. Her 2004 Partners for Progress (PDF) initiative is designed to advance positive relationships between the institution and its area community through a variety of programs and activities.

During her tenure at Salisbury University, Dr. Dudley-Eshbach has developed "The Salisbury Promise," an integrity pledge for all incoming students. Her Presidential Scholars Program, launched in 2004, promotes student civic engagement. She has overseen the funding and construction of the new Henson Science Hall, a $42 million project, and the Scarborough Student Leadership Center, considered to be the first free-standing leadership training center of its kind in the country. President Dudley-Eshbach has been named one of Maryland's Top 100 Women in 2005 by the Daily Record, a state-wide business journal.

Prior to her appointment, she served as president of Fairmont State College in West Virginia and held faculty and administrative positions at three colleges and universities. At Fairmont, Dudley-Eshbach became the first woman to lead a four-year public institution of higher education in West Virginia. During her three-year tenure at the college, she was recognized by Change magazine as a "Young Leader of the Academy" in 1998 and was awarded the 1999 Elizabeth Dole Shattered Glass Award. Under her presidency, Fairmont received a $21 million GEAR UP grant, the sixth largest of the 164 grants awarded nationwide, and she secured funding for numerous projects such as improvements to the library, Alumni Center, athletic facilities, and branch campus.

During her eight years at State University of New York College at Potsdam, Dudley-Eshbach served in positions of increasing responsibility as professor of Spanish and Latin American studies, chair of the Department of Modern Languages, associate vice president for academic affairs and dean of the School of Liberal Arts. In 1993 she was named provost.

During 1985-1988, Dudley-Eshbach was director of the First Year Program, as well as chair of the Latin American Studies Program at Goucher College. Prior to that, she was an instructor of Spanish at Allegheny College in Meadville, PA.

A Phi Beta Kappa scholar, Dudley-Eshbach completed undergraduate studies in Spanish and Latin American studies at Indiana University and earned her doctorate in Hispanic literature at El Colegio De Mexico in Mexico City. In 1980 she undertook post-doctoral study in Chile on a Fulbright-Hays Grant.

A leader with international interests, Dudley-Eshbach was a member of West Virginia Senator Jay Rockefeller's 1997 Project Harvest II Trade Mission to Taiwan and Japan. In addition, she was invited to participate in the 1998 Oxford International Round Table on Educational Policy at Oxford University in England. She is fluent in Spanish and has traveled extensively throughout Latin America.

Dudley-Eshbach has written numerous articles, including "Higher Education: Open for Business," "Women in Higher Education: A Retrospective to the Days of Winifred Smith" and "Lolita y Ada: Amor incestuoso y escritura enigmática." She is also co-author of República de Chile, a curriculum guide, and other articles which have appeared in journals as varied as The Chronicle of Higher Education and Delaware Beach Life.

Dudley-Eshbach was elected to Phi Beta Kappa in 1974 and to Phi Delta Kappa in 1994. Her professional memberships include: the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, National Association of Women in Higher Education and the American Council of Education's Commission on Women.

Dr. Dudley-Eshbach enjoys reading, playing the guitar, travel, biking, and beachcombing. See Dr. J's "Top Eight" lists. A native of Baltimore, she is married to Joseph Eshbach and has two children, Joe and Caroline.