Dr. Joanna Royce-Davis

Joanna Royce-Davis, Ph.D, has been a cornerstone of Pacific Lutheran University’s senior leadership team since 2014, when she joined our community as the Vice President for Student Life. Dr. Royce-Davis’s career is defined by a deep-seated commitment to student learning and academic mission, including a decade of service as a graduate program director and foundational work as a faculty member teaching across the academic spectrum, from first year requirements to doctoral seminars. Her background uniquely positions Dr. Royce-Davis to understand and foster a holistic educational experience for all students, connecting classroom learning with co-curricular engagement and applied learning.

Dr. Royce-Davis is known for her collaborative approach to bridging the university’s academic mission and overall student experience, driving initiatives that support student success, well-being, and a vibrant campus community. With an educational background spanning Indiana University (B.A.), San Jose State University (M.A.), and Syracuse University (Ph.D.), Joanna possesses a sophisticated understanding of the diverse strengths of public and private higher education. She is a recognized expert in inclusive and active pedagogy, a focus honed during her time in Syracuse University’s prestigious Future Professoriate Project. This intensive preparation for university teaching informs her holistic view of the university as a unified learning environment. Similarly, Dr. Royce-Davis’s start as a middle and high school teacher in a tribally-run school system grounds her approach to learning as relational, interdependent, and rooted in place. Her career trajectory reflects a rare breadth of expertise, including curricular innovation, instructional excellence, and sustaining a rigorous research agenda focused on equity-minded educational systems, social-emotional learning, integrative wellbeing approaches, and leadership development.

Dr. Royce-Davis understands that the cores of student experience are not siloed, but rather an interaction between student experiences in their academic programs and in their related opportunities for reflection, engagement, and application in co-curricular settings. In collaboration with faculty partners, Dr. Royce-Davis co-founded and co-designed Pacific’s First-Year Experience, applying an equity-focused lens to modernize the university’s foundational curriculum. She has contributed insights from that nationally recognized program to the evolution of PLU’s General Education course, PLUS 100.

Dr. Royce-Davis’s executive leadership is underpinned by a sustained commitment to academic scholarship and the advancement of collective knowledge. Her research portfolio includes such focal areas as equity-centered systems, leadership learning, and integrated wellbeing, all of which shape her data-informed approach to institutional excellence. By consistently presenting collaborative research within her broader higher education network, she remains at the forefront of national trends in student success. Her standing as a distinguished educator and scholar is reflected in numerous honors, including her recognition as a NASPA Pillar of the Profession.