Edna V. Baehre, Ph.D.
President, HACC, Central Pennsylvania's Community College
Dr. Edna V. Baehre was appointed the sixth president of Harrisburg Area Community College in July 1997, having served in senior executive capacities at community colleges in Illinois and New York State since 1983. Born in post-war West Germany, she is a 1971 graduate of Paedagogische Hochschule, Heidelberg, West Germany, and she holds M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Dr. Baehre is fluent in three languages (German, English and French). Due to her doctoral studies she also was able to read and understand Persian, and in her youth in Germany studied six years of Latin.
At HACC, Dr. Baehre manages a $152-million budget and a full- and part-time staff of about 2,000. With more than 22,000 undergraduate students and an additional 50,000 enrolled in a variety of non-credit training and enrichment programs, HACC has a service area encompassing eight counties of south-central Pennsylvania. The College operates five full-service regional campuses at Harrisburg, Gettysburg, Lancaster and Lebanon, and York, and a virtual campus. Due to community demand, Dr. Baehre pursued an expansion of HACC's presence in Midtown, Harrisburg, where a 130,000-square-foot facility opened in August 2007.
During her tenure Dr. Baehre has led the development and implementation of three successive strategic plans for the College, and she is currently overseeing implementation of its first facilities master plan. In recent years she has been successful in raising millions of dollars for capital and endowment projects. Among her accomplishments at HACC are the institution of an Enrollment Management program that has become a national model, and the introduction of Appreciative Inquiry as a group problem-solving technique that likewise has earned national acclaim.
Dr. Baehre currently holds gubernatorial appointments including the Pennsylvania State Workforce Investment Board. She is a director of the Middle States Commission on Higher Education and is a member of the Presidents Academy Executive Committee of the American Association of Community Colleges. Dr. Baehre is Chair of the Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges. Locally, she is also a director of the Pinnacle Health System and the Harristown Development Corporation.
Dr. Baehre has been recognized locally, regionally and nationally for her efforts to promote women's leadership, community service, and economic development. Recent honors include recognition by the Harrisburg Chapter of Executive Women International (EWI) for achievement in the field of higher education (2009), The Cliff Jones Award, Central Pennsylvania Business Journal, (2008); YWCA of Greater Harrisburg, Tribute to Women of Excellence (2008); Global Vision Award, Embracing Global Women, Inc. (2008); Gandhi, King, Ikeda Award for Peace, Moorehouse College, Atlanta, GA (2007); Compass Award by the Pennsylvania Immigration Refugee Women Network (2007); participating with President George W. Bush as a community panel member on Jobs for the 21st Century (2004); Communicator of the Year (2005) award, Harrisburg Chapter, International Association of Business Communicators; Community Leader Award, Asian-Indian American Society of Central Pennsylvania (2006); and Athena Award (2006) and Catalyst Award (2004), Harrisburg Regional Chamber and Capitol Region Economic Development Corporation.
