UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Lorraine Goffe, vice president for human resources and chief human resources officer at Penn State since 2019, has announced her departure from the University, effective Jan. 31, 2022. Goffe will assume a new role as vice president for human resources and chief human resource officer at Northwestern University in Illinois, on Feb. 1, 2022.
“It is bittersweet to say farewell to Lorraine, who has provided strategic and compassionate leadership in support of Penn State employees during her time at the University. We have much to thank Lorraine for and wish her all our best in her next endeavors,” said Penn State President Eric Barron. “In service to employees across the commonwealth, Lorraine’s dedication, creativity and thoughtfulness have been critical, especially during the ongoing pandemic, and have helped position our human resources operations and offerings on a trajectory for continued success.”
As vice president for human resources, Goffe oversees Penn State Human Resources, which is comprised of more than 250 staff members who serve the University’s 37,000 full- and part-time employees across Penn State’s campuses. As a member of President’s Council, she provides leadership across all human resources departments and helps to foster partnerships and collaboration across academic and administrative units in support of the University’s mission and strategic plan.
“My time at Penn State has been a wonderful experience. I am grateful for all my colleagues in HR and throughout the University, as well as for ongoing support from leadership in our efforts to grow our vision for HR and accomplish strategic priorities for the University even in the face of the pandemic,” Goffe said. “As I leave Penn State, I am excited about the opportunity to be able make a positive impact at another great American university, and I also look forward to being closer to my family.”
In her time at Penn State, Goffe has been instrumental in leading a series of critical initiatives to transform and streamline HR services and performance management; foster diversity, equity and inclusion in hiring and retention; and expand benefit options and leadership and development programs for employees across Penn State.
Among these efforts, the University continued to make enhancements in hiring and customer service with the launch of Workday Recruiting to enable the University to move toward a more strategic approach to talent acquisition and a new HR Customer Service Initiative to focus on providing service and meeting the needs of the University community.
Under her leadership, Penn State also launched a Compensation Modernization Initiative to provide competitive compensation and clear career paths for staff members; implemented a new paid parental leave benefit for all benefits-eligible staff to support working families in the Penn State community; launched a simplified, fully automated tuition discount application process for eligible spouses and dependent children; and developed a diversity, inclusion and belonging function in HR and a five-year strategic plan to help improve diversity and sense of belonging for employees.
Among her accomplishments, Goffe also has navigated during COVID-19, pivoting along with her HR team to launch new resources, processes and protocols to support employees and uphold workplace health and safety, including remote work and return-to-work strategies.
Before coming to Penn State, Goffe was the vice president for human resources at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and previously worked at Washington University in St. Louis for 15 years where she held various leadership roles, including vice chancellor for human resources. Goffe began her career in private industry and worked in health care as manager of human resources at St. Louis Children’s Hospital and at Barnes-Jewish Hospital.
Goffe is a board member of the American Research Universities HR Institute, which is comprised of the HR leaders from the Association of American Universities.
Goffe earned her bachelor’s degree in business administration from William Woods University and master’s degree in business administration from National University. She received professional HR certifications from the Human Resources Certification Institute and the Society for Human Resources Management.
The University plans to conduct a national search for Goffe’s replacement and has named Jennifer Wilkes, current assistant vice president for administration in the Office of the Senior Vice President for Commonwealth Campuses, as interim vice president for human resources and chief human resources officer, effective Feb. 1, 2022.
Wilkes, who has worked at the University for more than 20 years, was previously the director of human resources for Auxiliary and Business Services and manager of employee relations. In her current role, she provides leadership in human resources, compliance, affirmative action, communications, safety, security and emergency response. Wilkes earned both a master’s degree in labor studies and industrial relations and a bachelor’s degree in hotel, restaurant and institutional management from Penn State. She previously worked at Walt Disney World Company and The Shaner Hotel Group.