Lisa Porché-Burke

Lisa Porché-Burke is an American psychologist, educator, and academic administrator. She served as chancellor of the Los Angeles campus of the California School of Professional Psychology and later as president and chief executive officer of Phillips Graduate Institute. Her work has focused on counseling psychology, multicultural psychology, higher education, and the training of mental health professionals. She has also held leadership positions in the American Psychological Association and other professional organizations.

Early life and education Lisa Porché-Burke was born on November 9, 1954, in Los Angeles. She was adopted and raised in a multicultural Creole family. Her experiences with racial discrimination shaped her later work on multicultural psychology.

Porché-Burke attended the University of Southern California (USC) where she earned her B.A. in psychology in 1976. She received her M.A. (1981) and Ph.D. (1983) in counseling psychology at the University of Notre Dame. She was the first Black woman to earn a doctorate in counseling psychology from Notre Dame.

Career Porché-Burke worked briefly at Boston City Hospital and Boston University School of Medicine, and then was appointed to the faculty at California School of Professional Psychology (CSPP) beginning in 1985. She was appointed Provost and later Chancellor of the Los Angeles campus of CSPP in 1991, where she focused on community mental health initiatives and multicultural training.

Porché-Burke became President and CEO of Phillips Graduate Institute (PGI) in 1999, where she remained until her departure in 2009. She oversaw the expansion of PGI into doctoral and organizational leadership programs, and helped the school develop leadership and human resources management curricula integrating behavioral science with business. She resigned from PGI in 2009 due to a controversy that arose related to accreditation from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.

Porché-Burke has made multiple professional contributions to the field of psychology, including national leadership in multicultural psychology initiatives, leadership in and service to the American Psychological Association and the California Psychological Association, leadership at the National Multicultural Summit, and emphasis on the recruitment and retention of students and faculty of color.

Porché-Burke has also served on several boards and service to non-profit organizations such as the People of America Foundation and Holy Family Services Adoption and Foster Care.

Personal life Porché-Burke is married to Peter Alston Burke, an attorney. She has three children.