Jonathan R. Alger

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.