Dr. Lisa Biagas
Dr. Biagas is the current Chief Operating Officer at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA). A strategic and hands-on leader, Dr. Biagas has proven experience developing and executing impactful people strategies and DEIB programs. She is a thought partner, a change agent, and a consensus builder.
Through Dr. Biagas’ visionary leadership, she enlivens a culture to foster inclusion, transparency, and equity. She creates organizational structures to reflect the organization's values and ensure a continuous learning culture to impact practices, policies, strategic focus, priorities, and general scope of programs. Dr. Biagas’ expertise includes supporting organizations undergoing leadership transitions and undertaking new strategic plans, operationalizing Middle States Commission of Higher Education accreditation standards, and guiding organizations in human resources practices related to racial equity, gender justice, and other forms of disparities.
Prior to PAFA, she was the Vice President of Human Resources at the Roosevelt Institute and FDR Library and Museum, where she was hired to design a process for identifying and prioritizing its organizational strengthening and capacity building. At Georgian Court University, Dr. Biagas was the Vice President for Institutional Effectiveness and Planning for the newly formed Office of Institutional Effectiveness. In this role, Dr. Biagas is responsible for leading and directing the university’s strategic planning, institutional research, policy formation, and organizational development activities, working to create and maintain effective, efficient and accountable university’s organizational practices and outcomes. Dr. Biagas has worked at New York University, where she served in various roles including the Executive Director for Human Resources and Organizational Effectiveness; and AVP for Human Resources at New Jersey Institute for Technology. In addition, she held several positions at Princeton University including Director of Organizational Effectiveness and Compliance, and Director of Management Development.
During her career Dr. Biagas had led oversight of the following offices - Institutional Advancement (planned giving, major giving, annual giving, alumni relations), Finance and Administration (finance, risk management, book store, dining, facilities, purchasing, IT, and security), Financial Aid while leading the search for the vice presidents of these critical functions. She has also served on a university presidential search committee with board members and was responsible for the seamless entrance and onboarding of the new university president.
Dr. Biagas holds a doctoral degree in higher education management, MBA and an MS in organizational dynamics, from the University of Pennsylvania; BA in Psychology from Temple University and specialty certifications in human resources, leadership, executive coaching, diversity, and project management. Dr. Biagas’ doctoral research applied positive psychology principles to presidential leadership.
