Barbara J. Lawrence is the Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer at Rider University. During her first year at Rider, Barbara created and launched Rider’s new Division of Justice, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Prior to Rider, she served as Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Guilford College where she held several administrative roles and was the Founding Director of the Wiser Justice Program, Guilford’s Higher Education in Prison Initiative, and former Founding Chair of the Greensboro Interim Civilian Police Review Committee. She has 25+ years of professional experience that includes: former NYPD police officer, investigator and trainer, Indiana Criminal Justice Institute research consultant, former assistant district attorney, training consultant for the San Francisco County Court Youth Treatment & Education Center and other juvenile and criminal justice programs and police departments. 

Barbara has written for the Hamline Journal of Public Law and Policy, Journal Committed to Social Change on Race (JSCORE), reviewed criminal justice manuscripts, contributed to various criminal justice manuals and encyclopedias on topics ranging from victim autonomy, domestic violence, stalking laws, community policing, and juvenile offending. 

At Rider, she currently oversees the Office of Public Safety, Center for Diversity and Inclusion, Office of Title IX and Institutional Equity and Student Accessibility Student Services. Barbara is a consultant and trained facilitator in anti-racism, diversity and inclusion, cultural accountability and serves on the board of the Guilford Green Foundation.

She received her Bachelor of Science degree from John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Masters of Public Affairs from the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University Purdue University, and Doctorate of Jurisprudence from the Indiana School of Law.