Amy Gutmann was elected President of the University of Pennsylvania in 2004 where she is also the Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Professor of Communication in the Annenberg School for Communication.
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Valerie A. Smith, became Swarthmore College’s 15th president in July 2016. President Smith, a distinguished scholar of English and African American literature, began her career as an academic at Princeton University. She later joined the faculty at UCLA where she eventually served as chair of its Interdepartmental Program in African-American Studies. Dr. Smith returned to Princeton in 2001 as the Woodrow Wilson Professor of Literature and Professor of English and African-American Studies and later became the founding Director of Princeton’s Center for African American Studies. She received the President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching from Princeton University in 2009. She was appointed Dean of the College at Princeton in 2011 and her responsibilities included oversight of the undergraduate curriculum, residential college system, undergraduate admissions, and financial aid. President Smith is the recipient of fellowships from the Fletcher Foundation, Guggenheim Foundation, and National Endowment for the Humanities. President Smith received an honorary degree from Hong Kong Baptist University in 2016.
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Wendell Pritchett was appointed the 30th Provost of the University of Pennsylvania in July 2017. He is also the Presidential Professor Law and Education and served at Interim Dean of the University of Pennsylvania’s Law School from 2014-15. Previously Provost Pritchett served as Chancellor of Rutgers-Camden which experienced immense growth and improvement under his leadership. Provost Pritchett earned his JD from Yale Law School, has been a member of the Pennsylvania Bar since 1991. His practice focused on real estate and housing law and included representing nonprofit organizations involved in the development of affordable housing. “Which Urban Crisis? Regionalism, Race and Urban Policy,” written by Provost Pritchett who earned a Ph.D. in history from the University of Pennsylvania, won the Urban History Association Best Article Award in 2008. A dedicated public servant, Provost Pritchett’s leadership roles have included service as Deputy Chief of Staff to Philadelphia’s Former Mayor, Michael Nutter, Chair and Vice Chair of the Redevelopment Authority of Philadelphia, was a member of the School Reform Commission, as Chair of the Board of Community Legal Services of Philadelphia, Campus Compact and Campus Unbound.
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Bonnie Thornton Dill is Dean of the College of Arts and Humanities and Professor of Women’s Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park. A pioneering scholar studying the intersections of race, class and gender in the U.S. with an emphasis on African American women, work and families, her scholarship has been reprinted in numerous collections and edited volumes. Dean Dill was the Founding Director of both the Center for Research on Women at the University of Memphis and the Consortium on Race, Gender and Ethnicity at the University of Maryland, College Park. Dean Dill has received a number of prestigious awards, including the Jessie Bernard Award and Distinguished Contributions to Teaching from the American Sociological Association; the Eastern Sociological Society’s Robin Williams Jr. Distinguished Lectureship; and the Stanley Kelley, Jr. Visiting Professor for Distinguished Teaching in the Department of Sociology at Princeton University.
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Jonathan R. Alger became the sixth president of James Madison University on July 1, 2012. President Alger is a nationally recognized scholar and speaker on higher education policy and legal issues that include access and opportunity, diversity, student and faculty recruitment and retention, management of financial challenges, student organizations, shared governance, intellectual property, leadership, and academic freedom. Before his appointment as James Madison University’s president, he served as Senior Vice President and General Counsel at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. His other leadership roles included Assistant General Counsel for the University of Michigan, Counsel for the American Association of University Professors, and Attorney-Advisor in the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. He currently serves on the American Council on Education’s Board of Directors, the Campus Compact Board of Directors, the American Association of State Colleges and Universities’ Council of State Representatives, and the GENEDGE Alliance Board of Trustees. He is a past president of the Board of Directors of the National Association of College and University Attorneys and in 2013 was named a lifetime member.
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Nancy Cantor has served as Chancellor of Rutgers University–Newark since 2014. Her previous leadership roles include service as Chancellor and President, Syracuse University; Chancellor of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs for the University of Michigan. Chancellor Cantor is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a member of the National Academy of Medicine of the National Academies. A social psychologist, Chancellor Cantor is the author of numerous books, including the Our Compelling Interests book series, which she co-edits with Earl Lewis, for the Andrew Mellon Foundation. Her numerous awards include the Carnegie Corporation’s Academic Leadership Award, Robert Zemsky Medal for Innovation in Higher Education, the Making a Difference for Women Award from the National Council for Research on Women, the Reginald Wilson Diversity Leadership Award from the American Council on Education, and the Frank W. Hale, Jr. Diversity Leadership Award from the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education
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John J. DeGioia was appointed Georgetown University’s 48th President on July 1, 2001 and in 2014 became its longest serving. An alumnus of Georgetown, President DeGioia was a faculty member and held administrative leadership roles in its Philosophy Department before his appointment as president. In 2010, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Deeply engaged in addressing broader issues in education, President DeGioia currently serves as Immediate Past Chair of the Board of Directors of the American Council on Education and is Chair of the Board of Directors of the Forum for the Future of Higher Education. He also is a member of the Board of Directors of the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the National Association of Independent Schools. President De Gioia is the Chair of the Division I Committee on Academics for the NCAA, and a commissioner on the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics. President DeGioia also is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global University Leaders Forum. He has received honorary degrees from Miami Dade College; Loyola University, Maryland; Queens University Belfast; Sacred Heart University; and Mount Aloysius College.
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JoAnne A. Epps, has served as the Executive Vice President and Provost of Temple University since 2016. Prior to her appointment as Provost, she served as Dean of Temple University’s Beasley School of Law for 8 years. Her previous leadership positions include service as an Assistant US Attorney in Philadelphia and Deputy City Attorney for the City of Los Angeles. A highly respected academic, administrator, attorney and community leader, she is an outspoken advocate for educational accessibility and affordability. Her commitment to curricular innovation and experiential legal education garnered significant praise and national recognition for Temple University’s Law School. Provost Epps has served on the City of Philadelphia’s Board of Ethics, which oversees election and public integrity laws. Provost Epps also is a member of the Board of Directors of the Defender Association and served as the Association’s Board Chair from 199 to 2006. She received the 2016 Spirit of Excellence Award from the American Bar Association’s Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession. The Philadelphia Bar Association awarded Epps the Justice Sandra Day O’Connor Award in 2009 and the Justice Sonia Sotomayor Diversity Award in 2014.
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Phoebe A. Haddon became chancellor of Rutgers University–Camden on July 1, 2014. Rutgers University–Camden has significantly widened affordable access and expanded Rutgers–Camden’s role as an anchor institution in Camden and the Delaware Valley.
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Dennis Holtschneider is Chancellor of DePaul University where he served as President from July 2004 through June 2017. Reverend Holtschneider also is the Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer for Ascension Health. His previous leadership roles include service as the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Niagara University, academic administrative leadership roles at St. John’s University, and Director/Rector of Vincentian College Seminary.
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Maurie McInnis, a renowned scholar in the cultural history of American art in the colonial and antebellum south, is the Executive Vice President and Provost for The University of Texas at Austin. As its chief academic officer, she leads strategic planning for its academic mission and ensures that its academic programs are world-class and aligned with its commitment to diversity. Her responsibilities include leading academic programs and initiatives across the University’s 18 colleges and schools, which serve more than 51,000 students and support more than 3,000 teaching and research faculty. Working closely with deans and other academic leaders, Provost McInnis’ responsibilities also include faculty recruitment, retention, and advancement; enrollment management; and student success initiatives. Prior to being appointed Executive Vice President and Provost at UT Austin, for almost 20 years, Dr. McInnis held various academic and administrative positions at the University of Virginia, including Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Academic Programs in the College of Arts and Sciences, Director of American Studies, and Professor of Art History.
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Richard Myers became the 16th President of his alma mater, Kansas State University, in 2016 after having served as its Interim President. A retired Four-Star Air Force General, he had been the Kansas State University Foundation Professor of Military History and Leadership. From 2001-2005, he served as the 15th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and was the principal military adviser to the U.S. president, US Secretary of Defense, and the National Security Council. He had been appointed Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs by President Clinton in 2000. A highly decorated combat pilot, his prior commands included the North American Aerospace Defense Command, US Space Command, and the 5th Air Force at Yokota Air Base, Japan. General Richard B. Myers Hall, the home of Kansas State University’s Army and Air Force ROTC programs, was named in his honor. He has received numerous awards and decorations for his exemplary service to his country, which include the Legion of Merit, French Legion of Honor, and Presidential Medal of Freedom.
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Cassandra Manuelito-Kerkvliet, former President of Antioch University Seattle, was the first Native American woman to ascend to the presidency of an accredited university outside the tribal college system. During her tenure at Antioch University, new scholarships were established, including the Richard Norris Native American Scholarship and the AUS Board of Trustees Scholarship. New innovative programs include the Institute of War Stress Injuries and Social Justice, Drama Therapy, and Center for Teaching and Learning. In alignment with Antioch’s commitment and leadership in sustainability, Dr. Manuelito-Kerkvliet signed the American College and University President’s Climate Commitment in 2008 and committed that all of its construction and building renovations would be at least LEED Silver. She serves on the Seattle Community Colleges Chancellor’s Advisory Council. She is a member of the executive board of Washington State Campus Compact and the Board of Directors of Higher Education Resource Services, and the Washington Women’s Foundation. Dr. Manuelito-Kerkvliet is the embodiment of her great, great grandfather, Chief Manuelito’s teaching “Education is the ladder to success. Tell my grandchildren to climb that ladder.”
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Raynard S. Kington was appointed the 13th President of Grinnell College in August 2010. President Kington holds an MD degree from the University of Michigan. He also earned a Ph.D. with a concentration in Health Policy and Economics and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Previously, President Kington held a number of increasingly responsible positions as the National Institutes of Health including Principal Deputy Director, Acting Director, Associate Director for Behavioral and Social Sciences Research, and Acting Director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Prior to his service at NIH, President Kington was a division director at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where he led the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey was elected to the Institute of Medicine (now, the National Academy of Medicine) of the National Academies of Science. President Kington also has been a Senior Scientist at the Rand Corporation and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at UCLA. He currently serves on the Governing Council of the National Academy of Medicine, the Board of Directors of the Institute for the International Education of Students, and the National Advisory Council of the National Institute on Aging at NIH.
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Marvin Krislov became the eighth President of Pace University in August 2017 where he is deeply committed to its mission of providing all students, regardless of economic background, access to the transformative power of education. Prior to his appointment at Pace, President Krislov served as President of Oberlin College for 10 years. Prior to Oberlin, he was Vice President and General Counsel at the University of Michigan, where he led the legal defense of the University’s admission policies that resulted in the 2003 Supreme Court decision recognizing the importance of student body diversity. Throughout his career, Krislov has been a champion of access and diversity. A Rhodes Scholar with three degrees from Yale, President Krislov’s prior leadership experience included service as Acting Solicitor and then Deputy Solicitor of National Operations in the US Department of Labor. He previously served as Associate Counsel in the Office of Counsel to the President during the Clinton Administration.
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Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, is the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation University Professor of Health Policy and Health Equity at the University of Pennsylvania. She is President Emerita and Former CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a position she held for nearly 15 years. During her tenure at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, she spearheaded health initiatives such as creating healthier, more equitable communities; strengthening the integration of health systems and services; and ensuring every child in the United States has the opportunity to grow up at a healthy weight. This work culminated in the Foundation’s vision of building a Culture of Health enabling everyone in America to live longer, healthier lives. A specialist in geriatrics, Dr. Lavizzo-Mourey was the Sylvan Eisman Professor of Medicine and Health Care Systems, Director of the Institute on Aging, and Chief of Geriatric Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Medicine. Previously, she worked on the White House Health Care Reform Task Force and served on numerous federal advisory committees. Dr. Lavizzo-Mourey is a member of the National Academy of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and a former member the President’s Council for Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition. She currently serves on the Smithsonian Institution Board of Regents and several other boards.
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Debra Joy Pérez, is the chief evaluation and learning officer for the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. Throughout her career, she has worked to bring diverse perspectives to research and policy decision-making. Dr. Pérez has developed initiatives to foster multidisciplinary research spanning various dimensions of diversity. Prior to joining the Moore Foundation, Dr. Pérez was Vice President of Research, Evaluation and Learning for the Annie E. Casey Foundation. In that role Dr. Pérez provided leadership and direction for the Unit’s signature efforts in promoting diversity in the evaluation field. Prior to joining Annie E. Casey Foundation, Dr. Pérez was assistant vice president for research and evaluation at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, where she focused on improving the quality of healthcare, reducing disparities, and building the field of public health services and systems research.
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Havidán Rodríguez was appointed the 20th president of the State University of New York at Albany by its Board of Trustees in June 2017. Previously, President Rodríguez was the founding Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. During his tenure at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Dr. Rodriguez was instrumental in creating that new public research university and building its medical school from the ground up. Dr. Rodríguez had previously served as Interim President, Provost, and Vice President for Academic Affairs at The University of Texas Pan-American. The University of Texas Pan-American merged with The University of Texas at Brownsville to form the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Prior to his leadership positions in Texas, Dr. Rodríguez served as Deputy Provost, Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and International Programs, and Professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice at the University of Delaware. A highly regarded scholar, he studies the socioeconomic impacts of disasters and the economic well-being of minority populations in the US and Puerto Rico.
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Dr. Ruth J. Simmons was appointed 8th President of Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU) in December 2017 and is its first woman president. She served as president of Brown University from 2001 until 2012—the first African American to lead an Ivy League institution.
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Claude M. Steele, an internationally renowned social psychologist whose work is grounded in the systematic application of social science to problems of major societal significance, is the I. James Quillen Endowed Dean Emeritus and the Lucie Stern Professor in the Social Sciences Emeritus at Stanford University. Previously, Dr. Steele served as the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost at the University of California at Berkeley. Dr. Steele also served as Provost of Columbia University. Dr. Steele is best known for his work on stereotype threat and its application to the performance of women students and students of color in the academy. He is the author of Whistling Vivaldi and Other Clues to How Stereotypes Affect Us and dozens of articles in refereed journals. Dr. Steele is an award-winning teacher who has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, National Academy of Education, National Academy of Sciences, and American Philosophical Society. He holds honorary doctorates from the University of Chicago, Yale University, Princeton University, Northwestern University, DePaul University, Claremont Graduate University, University of Michigan, and University of Maryland, Baltimore.
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Shirley M. Tilghman is President Emerita and Professor of Molecular Biology and Public Affairs at Princeton University. An exceptional teacher, and a world-renowned scholar and leader in the field of molecular biology, she served on Princeton’s faculty for 15 years before being named president.
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David Wilson, who was appointed the 12th President of Morgan State University in 2010, has a distinguished record of accomplishment and more than 30 years of experience in higher education administration. Prior to his appointment as President of Morgan State University, he served as Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin Colleges and the University of Wisconsin–Extension. Previously, he held numerous other administrative posts in academia, including Vice President for University Outreach and Associate Provost at Auburn University, and Associate Provost of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. Among the many honors and recognitions he has received are having been named one of the nation’s top 100 leaders in higher education by the American Association of Higher Education in 1998 and one of The Daily Record newspaper’s Influential Marylanders for 2011. The University of Alabama conferred upon him an award for outstanding leadership in engaged scholarship in 2011. He serves on the Board of the Greater Baltimore Committee, the Association of Land Grant Universities, and the Association of American Colleges and Universities. President Barack Obama appointed him to his 11-member Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
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Dr. Ruth Enid Zambrana is a Professor of Women’s Studies, Director of the Consortium on Race, Gender and Ethnicity, and an adjunct Professor of Family Medicine at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, School of Medicine. Her scholarship applies a critical intersectional lens to structural inequality and racial disparities, Hispanic ethnicity, and gender disparities in population health and higher education trajectories. Her awards include the 2013 American Public Health Association Latino Caucus, Founding Member Award for Vision and Leadership, University of Maryland’s Outstanding Woman of Color Award for lifetime achievement in 2013, and the 2011 Julian Samora Distinguished Career Award by the American Sociological Association, Sociology of Latinos/as Section. Her latest book is Toxic Ivory Tower: The Consequences of Work Stress on the Health of Underrepresented Minority Faculty (Rutgers University Press, 2018). Support for her research was provided by the Robert Wood Johnson and the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
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