Lisa Orr has deep roots in Long Beach and at LBCC. After growing up in here, she attended LBCC in the 1980s and eventually became a part-time and then full-time faculty member in History. She served as department head for the History & Political Science Department (now History, Political Science and Ethnic Studies) and then eventually Dean of Social Sciences and Arts, a position she held from July 2017 through the spring of 2022. Her current position is Dean of Social and Behavioral Sciences where she oversees a variety of programs including Anthropology, Cultural Geography, Ethnic Studies, History, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology and Sociology. Social Justice Studies and Global Studies are two new programs that have recently been added to the School of Social and Behavioral Studies.

Dean Orr’s academic roots lie in History and she received her Ph.D. in U.S. history with minors in Women’s Studies and Latin American history. She is committed to diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility for all students and is passionate about equitable student success. She especially enjoys working with people toward common goals in higher education.