16th President, University of Liberia

President Layli Maparyan, a distinguished academic and prolific scholar, serves as the 16th President of the University of Liberia, the nation's flagship university. Before this role, she was the Executive Director of the Wellesley Centers for Women (WCW) and a Professor of Africana Studies at Wellesley College in Massachusetts.

President Maparyan earned her Ph.D. in Psychology from Temple University and holds an M.S. in Psychology from Penn State University. She completed her undergraduate degree in Philosophy, graduating cum laude from Spelman College.
Her academic career is notable for her positions as Associate Professor and Assistant Professor at Georgia State University’s Women’s Studies Institute, as well as an Assistant Professor at the University of Georgia’s Department of Psychology and the Institute for African American Studies.

An accomplished author, she has authored numerous books, book chapters, journal articles, book reviews, and online publications. Dr. Maparyan is a sought-after speaker who has delivered lectures, keynote addresses, and plenary presentations at various conferences.

President Maparyan's connection to Liberia began during her tenure as a Fulbright Specialist at the University of Liberia in 2010. She has received several accolades, including the Distinguished Citizen Award for Service to the Liberian Community in 2009 and a Fulbright Specialist Program Award.

President Maparyan has held significant leadership positions in academia before becoming the University of Liberia President. She served as Chair of the Africana Studies department at Wellesley College from September 2019 to June 2023, based in the U.S. Before this role, she was the Interim Chair for the Africana Studies Department during the fall semester of 2017. She served as a professor in Africana Studies at Wellesley College, where she also took on the role of Executive Director of the Wellesley Centers for Women starting in July 2012.

Before her tenure at Wellesley, Maparyan was an Associate Professor at the Women’s Studies Institute at Georgia State University from May 2003 until June 2012.

She expanded her academic expertise as a Visiting Associate Professor in the Comparative Women’s Studies Department at Spelman College in early 2009, and previously served as Graduate Director of the Women’s Studies Institute at Georgia State University from January 2005 to July 2009. Additionally, she briefly held a position as a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Institute for Women’s Studies at Emory University in the fall of 2001.