Flowing water cleanses our bodies and calms our minds; flowing water connects peoples and cultures; enjoy these images of flowing water from my hometown, Trieste, and from places around the globe.
Born in Trieste, Italy, Dr. Lovett received her undergraduate education at the University of Trieste and Cambridge University in the United Kingdom. She earned her master’s and doctoral degrees in history at the University of Texas, Austin. As a faculty member at Baruch College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, Dr. Lovett made her mark as a teacher and scholar in the field of Modern European History. The CUNY Research Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Council of Learned Societies, Harvard University’s Radcliffe Institute, the Guggenheim Foundation, and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars supported her research.
During her years in the Washington, D.C. area, Dr. Lovett held national leadership roles as chief of the European Division of the Library of Congress, dean of arts and sciences at The George Washington University, and provost at George Mason University. She lectured at the Foreign Service Institute of the Department of State, wrote for The Chronicle of Higher Education and Change magazine, and participated in national projects for higher education reform.
In 1989 she was on Washingtonian magazine’s list of most influential women in Washington. Her leadership in higher education was recognized by the Virginia Federation of Business and Professional Women (1992), the American College Personnel Association (2005), and the International Women’s Forum (2011). She was among the first women elected to membership in the Cosmos Club of Washington D.C.
In fall 1993, Dr. Lovett was named President of Northern Arizona University. During her tenure, the University became a leader in Arizona and nationally for close partnerships with community colleges and for the use of technology to provide access to baccalaureate education for students in rural counties and Indian reservations and for working adults anywhere in the state. She also established a framework for fund-raising that allowed the University to launch its first-ever major capital campaign.
Following her retirement from the NAU presidency, Dr. Lovett became president of the American Association for Higher Education. In that role, she advocated for expanded access to higher education, diversity in curriculum and staffing, and effective use of technology in instruction and institutional operations.
Dr. Lovett has advised and worked with appointed and elected officials on issues of higher education policy. In the 1990’s, she collaborated with several governors on the creation of Western Governors’ University, one of the first online universities in the world and, to date, the only accredited American university that awards baccalaureate and master’s degrees based on demonstration of competency rather than accumulation of credit hours.
A founding trustee of Western Governors University, Dr. Lovett also served as trustee of Thunderbird, The School of Global Management, and as scholar-in-residence at the American Council of Trustees and Alumni.
A strong supporter of the arts, Dr. Lovett serves on the National Advisory Board and the Investment Committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington D.C. In November 2021 Northern Arizona University recognized her support for the arts on campus and in the larger community by naming the Art Museum in her honor.
During her years in Flagstaff and Phoenix, Arizona, Dr. Lovett served as vice chair of the B&L Charitable Foundation, established by her late husband, Benjamin F. Brown IV, to support social service and arts organizations. She also assisted the Hopi Indian Tribe to establish the Hopi Education Endowment Fund, and served on the Board of Directors of Arizona Blue Cross Blue Shield, Inc.
In 2013 Dr. Lovett established the Brown Faculty Fellowship at Baylor University, alma mater of her late husband and of many of his forebears.
Dr. Lovett resides in the Village of Friendship Heights, Chevy Chase MD, with her tuxedo cat, Pavarotti. She is a parishioner at St. John’s Norwood Episcopal Church. She represent her congregation at the Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington D.C., having served previously on the Vestry of St. David’s Episcopal Church in Washington D.C. and on the Chapter of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Phoenix AZ.
In 2014-2017 she served on the elected Council of F. H. Village. In 2018 she was elected to the Board of Directors of the Montgomery County (MD) Parks Foundation. In 2021 she was elected to the Board of Directors of her condominium building, The Carleton of Chevy Chase MD.
Her hobbies include contemporary theater, travel and, whenever possible, walking on a beach.
[email protected] 301 408 8017
Bangkok, Thailand