“Christian higher education is uniquely positioned in the broader sector of higher education to pay attention to holistic student formation. At SPU, we want to help students develop intellectual and practical skills to become ready for jobs, but, to quote John Wesley, we also want them ‘to grow more perfect in love.’” – Provost Laura Hartley
Departments Reporting to the provost
Meet Laura Hartley
Provost Laura Hartley oversees undergraduate and graduate faculty and academics to establish and champion an academic and faith-based vision for Seattle Pacific. She also serves as the executive-in-charge until the naming of an interim university president following the resignation of President Daniel Martin.
Prior to stepping into this role, she was the associate provost for student academic success and dean of the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences at George Fox, where she oversaw six multi-disciplinary academic departments, as well as the Office of Student Learning Support Services, the Department of Professional Studies, the Honors Program, and other student success initiatives.
In the classroom, Provost Hartley has taught linguistics, intercultural communication, and first-year experience courses. Her discipline of linguistics gives her an appreciation for “the incredible diversity that is part of the human family.” Learning from those differences, she explained, is crucial for a fuller appreciation of how God has designed us to be in relationship with him and with each other.
She earned her PhD from Michigan State University in linguistics, with an emphasis in sociolinguistics, in 1999; a master’s degree in linguistics from MSU in 1996; and a bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies (mathematics, communication, and world languages) from Wheaton College (IL) in 1991. She has been at SPU since July 2020.