Linda Oubré is an American academic administrator who served as president of Whittier College from 2018 to 2023.

Linda Oubré
Academic background
Alma materUniversity of Pennsylvania
ThesisSeeing What Sticks! Revenue Diversification and New Venturing in the Business Schools of the California State University (2017)

Early life and education

edit

Oubré grew up in Los Angeles and was a first-generation college student whose grandparents did not finish elementary school, but were labor and civil rights activists.[1] She graduated from Hollywood High School,[2] and earned a B.A. in economics from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1980.[3] After college she worked for a commercial bank[4] before earning an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1984, and an Ed.D. in higher education management from the University of Pennsylvania.[5][6]

Career

edit

After Oubré graduated from Harvard Business School she worked in the admissions department.[3] She was a founder of BriteSmile,[7] and worked with the company from 1998 until 2002,[6] including serving as president of the company when it went public on NASDAQ.[8][9]

She has worked in multiple companies including Tri Com Ventures, Times Mirror Company, Syncom Capital, and the Walt Disney Company.[6] In 2003, Oubré was an executive in residence at the University of California, Davis,[6] and she returned in 2011 to work in corporate relations, business development, and was the chief diversity officer for the Graduate School of Management.[10]

In 2012, Oubré moved to San Francisco State University where she was the Dean of the College of Business.[10][11] In 2018, Oubré was named president of Whittier College.[12] She is the first African-American[13] and the third woman to serve as president of the college.[14]

In 2019 she was named to the board of directors for the College Futures Foundation.[8]

On May 12, 2023, Oubré announced her resignation as president of Whittier College, effective June 30, 2023.[15][16][17][18]

Honors and awards

edit

Oubré was named a "Forever influential woman in business" by the San Francisco Business Times[19] in 2014, and received the Trailblazer Award from the San Francisco chapter of the Council of 100 Black Women in 2015.[20]

References

edit
  1. ^ Pennamon, Tiffany (March 28, 2018). "Stellar Academic and Business Leader Tapped to Lead Whittier College". Diverse: Issues in Higher Education. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
  2. ^ Takami, Lisa Mednick (2021). "WIHE Interview: Dr. Linda Oubré". Women in Higher Education. 30 (9): 1–3. doi:10.1002/whe.21031. ISSN 1060-8303.
  3. ^ a b "HBSAAA - Linda Oubre". hbsaaa.net. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
  4. ^ "WIHE Interview: Dr. Linda Oubré". WIHE. September 2, 2021. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
  5. ^ "President's Office". Whittier College.
  6. ^ a b c d "Linda Oubre | UC Davis Graduate School of Management". gsm.ucdavis.edu. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
  7. ^ WebDev, I. E. T. (April 22, 2003). "Former BriteSmile executive to discuss new ventures". UC Davis. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
  8. ^ a b "Linda Oubré Joins College Futures Board of Directors". College Futures Foundation. October 3, 2019. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
  9. ^ "As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on August 14, 2000". August 14, 2000.
  10. ^ a b "Linda Oubre, incoming dean of San Francisco State University College of Business". www.bizjournals.com. July 1, 2012. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
  11. ^ "HONORING AND COMMENDING LINDA OUBRE | Academic Senate". senate.sfsu.edu. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
  12. ^ Fine, Howard (March 26, 2018). "Linda Oubré Named President of Whittier College | Los Angeles Business Journal". labusinessjournal.com. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
  13. ^ Resmovits, Joy (March 26, 2018). "San Francisco State business school dean named Whittier College's first nonwhite president". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
  14. ^ "Past Presidents". Whittier College. Retrieved March 16, 2023.
  15. ^ Watanabe, Teresa (May 13, 2023). "Whittier College president resigns amid financial troubles, plunging enrollment". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 11, 2023.
  16. ^ "Whittier College President Linda Oubré resigns as alumni pressure builds for leadership change". Whittier Daily News. May 12, 2023. Retrieved May 16, 2023.
  17. ^ Moody, Josh. "Embattled Whittier College President Resigns". Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved May 16, 2023.
  18. ^ Moody, Josh. "When Critics Come for the President". Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved May 16, 2023.
  19. ^ "Influential Women 2014". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  20. ^ "100 Black Women SF Chapter Awards Community Leaders | Post News Group". www.postnewsgroup.com. April 1, 2015. Retrieved May 11, 2021.