Senator Valesky Names Dr. Linda LeMura New York State Senate Woman of Distinction

Sen. Valesky selected LeMoyne College President Dr. Linda LeMura as the 53rd Senate District’s 2016 Woman of Distinction. LeMura was recognized at a ceremony in Albany on May 10 for her academic achievements and research in the medical field.

LeMura became the 14th president of Le Moyne College in Syracuse on July 1, 2014. Her selection as president was historic, as she is the first female lay person to ascend to the presidency of a Jesuit institution in the United States. Prior to becoming Le Moyne’s president, she served as provost and vice president for academic affairs at Le Moyne since 2007 – only the second person in that role in the College’s history – and before that was Le Moyne’s dean of arts and sciences from 2003 to 2007.  Prior to Le Moyne, LeMura served as a professor, graduate program director and associate dean at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania.

Her research interests include pediatric obesity, pediatric applied physiology, lipid metabolism, and energy metabolism and she taught applied physiology, anatomy and physiology, bioethics, and the biology of aging. From 1990 to 1994, LeMura served as a research consultant for both the United States and the Italian Olympic Committees. She is the author of numerous peer-reviewed manuscripts and competitively funded grant proposals, a physiology laboratory manual and a text book that has been translated into multiple languages. She is also a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine. 

A Syracuse native and graduate of Bishop Grimes High School, LeMura is a summa cum laude graduate of Niagara University, and received an M.S. and Ph.D., both in applied physiology, from Syracuse University. Among her community involvement, she has served on the boards of the Syracuse Symphony, the Everson Museum, and the Syracuse International Film Festival.

The New York State Senate’s “Woman of Distinction” program was created in 1998 to honor New York women who exemplify personal excellence, or whose professional achievements or acts of courage, selflessness, integrity or perseverance serve as an example to all New Yorkers. Since the inception of the program, more than 400 women have been honored as Women of Distinction.