AAC&U Board of Directors

Carol Christ
Carol Christ became President of Smith College in 2002.  Prior to her appointment at Smith, Dr. Christ was Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost at the University of California, Berkeley where she previously had served as Vice Chancellor and Dean of the College of Letters and Science.  She first joined the University of California, Berkeley in 1970, later entering the university administration in 1988.  She was the highest-ranking female administrator at Berkeley until she returned to full-time teaching in 2000 and has a well-established reputation as a champion of women’s issues and diversity.  In 2004 she was named a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and in 2007 Yale University Graduate School presented her with their highest honor, the Wilbur Lucius Cross Medal.  Dr. Christ graduated with a B.A., with high and general honors, from Douglass College, the women’s college at Rutgers University, and earned the M.Ph. and Ph.D. degrees from Yale University in English.

James P. Collins
James P. Collins is the Virginia M. Ullman Professor of Natural History and Environment at Arizona State University.  Dr. Collins began his academic career at Arizona State University in 1975 and has held a number of leadership positions there since, among them Chair of the Zoology and Biology Departments. Additionally, he was founding director of ASU’s Undergraduate Biology Enrichment Program and has served as co-director of ASU’s Undergraduate Mentoring in Environmental Biology and Minority Access to Research Careers programs.  He also served as Assistant Director for Biological Sciences at the National Science Foundation.  He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a member of the Ecological Society of America, the American Society of Naturalists, and the Association for Women in Science, among others.  Dr. Collins received his undergraduate degree from Manhattan College and his doctoral degree from The University of Michigan.

Sean Decatur
Sean Decatur became Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Oberlin College in 2008.  Previously, he was a member of the the faculty at Mount Holyoke College, where he was appointed the Marilyn Dawson Sarles MD Professor of Life Sciences and Professor of Chemistry in 2005 and served as Associate Dean of Faculty for Science from 2005 – 2008.  He received a B.A. from Swarthmore College (1990) and a Ph.D. in Biophysical Chemistry from Stanford University (1995). 

Charlene Dukes
Charlene Dukes became President of Prince George’s Community College in 2007. Prior to her appointment, she served for twelve years as Vice President for Student Services at the same institution after holding the position of Dean of Students at the Community College of Allegheny County, Allegheny Campus. She has served on the Prince George’s County Board of Education and was recently appointed by the Governor of Maryland to the State Board of Education.  She is founder of the Community College Student Development Leadership Institute, an affiliate of the American Association of Community Colleges. Dr. Dukes holds an undergraduate degree in English education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and earned her master’s and doctoral degrees in administrative and policy studies (with an emphasis on higher education) from the University of Pittsburgh.

Bobby Fong (Chair)
Bobby Fong became the thirteenth president of Ursinus College in 2011, after serving for ten years as the president of Butler University. Before accepting the presidency at Butler, he had been dean of the faculty and professor of English at Hamilton College.  Prior to this, he was a professor of English and dean of arts and humanities at Hope College.  He began his academic career at Berea College in Kentucky, where he taught from 1978-89.  Dr. Fong received an A.B. in English from Harvard University and a PhD in English from the University of California-Los Angeles.

Mildred García (Vice Chair)
Mildred García was named President of California State University-Dominguez Hills in May 2007.  Prior to this, she served as president of Berkeley College in New York.  Earlier in her career she served as vice provost for academic personnel and was a tenured professor in the Social and Behavioral Sciences Department at Arizona State University West, and associate director of the Hispanic Research Center, Arizona State University, Tempe.  She has also served as assistant vice president for academic affairs at Montclair State University, and as chief student affairs officer at Hostos Community College of the City University of New York.  García received an EdD as well as an MA in higher education administration from Teachers College, Columbia University; an MA in business education/higher education from New York University; and a BS in business education from Bernard Baruch College of City University of New York.

Helen Giles-Gee (Past Chair)
Helen Giles-Gee assumed the presidency of Keene State College in July 2005.  With over three decades of experience as a professor and administrator at public institutions of higher education, she served most recently as provost of Rowan University in New Jersey.  Prior to this, she served as dean of the School of Professional Studies at the State University of New York at Cortland, as associate vice chancellor for faculty affairs and director of articulation at the University System of Maryland, and held faculty positions at Towson University and Cheyney University.  She received a BA in psychobiology, an MS degree in science education, and a PhD with distinction in measurement techniques of experimental research from the University of Pennsylvania, as well as an MS in zoology from Rutgers University. 

Ramón Gutiérrez
Ramón Gutiérrez, a historian of race and ethnic relations in American life, is Director of the Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture at the University of Chicago and also serves as the Preston & Sterling Morton Distinguished Service Professor in History and the College.  Dr. Gutiérrez has received numerous academic awards, including a MacArthur Foundation Prize Fellowship (“genius” grant), the John Hope Franklin Prize from the American Studies Association and the Frederick Jackson Turner Prize from the Organization of American Historians.  Dr. Gutiérrez also served as Associate Chancellor in the University of California system.  Before coming to Chicago, Dr. Gutiérrez was a faculty member at the University of California, San Diego. He received his B.A. in Latin American history from the University of New Mexico, and both his M.A. and Ph.D. in history from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Dianne F. Harrison
Diane Harrison became President of CSU Monterey Bay in 2006.  Prior to her appointment at CSU Monterey Bay, Dr. Harrison enjoyed a 30-year career at Florida State University in Tallahassee, she served in various capacities starting as a faculty member, dean of social work, associate vice president for academic affairs, dean of graduate studies and vice president for academic quality and external programs.  Her academic and research areas of expertise include HIV prevention among women and minority populations and higher education issues related to social work and university leadership; she has published dozens of articles and two books.  She holds a B.A. in American Studies and M.S.W. in Social Work from the University of Alabama and a Ph.D. in Social Work from Washington University.

David C. Hodge
David C. Hodge became president of Miami University in 2006.  He came to Miami with a successful track record spanning 30 years of experience in higher education. He served as a professor of geography, department chair, divisional dean, and most recently, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Washington (UW) in Seattle.  Dr. Hodge graduated from Macalester College with a bachelor's degree in geography in 1970. He went on to get both a master's degree and a doctorate in geography from Pennsylvania State University.

Alex Johnson
Alex Johnson became President of the Community College of Allegheny County in 2008.  Prior to his appointment, he served as Chancellor of Delgado Community College in New Orleans, Louisiana.  Nationally, he serves on the boards of National Campus Compact and the National Advisory Board for the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE).  Dr. Johnson has a bachelor’s degree from Winston-Salem State University, a master’s degree from Lehman College, and a doctorate from the Pennsylvania State University. Additionally, he completed the Executive Leadership Institute of the League for Innovation, the Management Development Program at Harvard University, and was an ACE Fellow.

Allison G. Jones
Allison Jones is Vice President for Postsecondary Collaboration at Achieve.  He joined the organization in 2010 as Senior Fellow for Postsecondary Achievement. He is responsible for advancing the organization’s college- and career-ready mission through a variety of ways, including leading the higher education engagement strategy for the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC). Prior to joining Achieve, he was Assistant Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs, Student Academic Support at the California State University System, coordinating support to twenty-three campuses in the areas of K-12 academic outreach, outreach to underserved and underrepresented communities, admission, enrollment management, financial aid, educational opportunity programs, and career technical education. He has served as Chair of the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, an appointment by the U.S. Secretary of Education. Mr. Jones holds a bachelor’s degree in English literature and master’s degree in counseling from the University of Redlands.

Darcy B. Kelley
Darcy B. Kelley is the Harold Weintraub Professor of Biological Sciences at Columbia University. Her scholarly work focuses on the neurobiology and evolution of vocal communication in South African clawed frogs, and she is co-director of the Doctoral Subcommittee in Neurobiology & Behavior.  She is a recipient of a Distinguished Columbia Faculty Award, and she was named an HHMI Million-Dollar Professor. Dr. Kelley received her bachelor’s degree from Barnard College and her doctoral degree in Neurobiology from the Rockefeller University.

Leo M. Lambert
Leo M. Lambert became Elon’s eighth president in January 1999.  Today Dr. Lambert’s work focuses on an ambitious new strategic vision which aims to place Elon, with a national reputation for engaged learning, among the nation’s best small, selective, private universities.  Dr. Lambert has written extensively about post-secondary education and is co-editor of a book about university teaching that was published by the Syracuse University Press in 2005. His alma mater, the State University of New York, awarded him an honorary doctorate of human letters in 2002 in recognition of exceptional achievements in higher education.  Lambert has a bachelor’s degree from State University of New York at Geneseo, a master’s in education from the University of Vermont in Burlington, and a doctorate in education from Syracuse University. Prior to coming to Elon, he was provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse.

Sylvia Manning
Sylvia Manning became President of The Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools in 2008.  She came to the HLC from eight years as Chancellor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she focused on advancing the education of 25,000 extraordinarily diverse students, a rapidly expanding research portfolio, a full-spectrum healthcare enterprise, and extensive urban engagement. From 1975 to 1994 she served as associate director of the Center for the Humanities, director of Freshman Writing, chair of the English Department, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Studies, and Executive Vice Provost at the University of Southern California. She began her academic career at what is today the California State University, East Bay.  Dr. Manning holds a B. A. from McGill University, an M.A. and Ph.D. in English Language and literature from Yale University.

David Maxwell
David Maxwell has been president of Drake University since May of 1999. He was director of the National Foreign Language Center in Washington DC from 1993 to 1999, after serving as president of Whitman College from 1989 to 1993. Dr. Maxwell was at Tufts University from 1971 to 1989 as a faculty member in Russian language and literature, and served as Dean of Undergraduate Studies for 8 years. Dr. Maxwell earned his bachelor’s degree in Russian area studies from Grinnell College in 1966. He received his master’s and doctorate degrees in Slavic languages and literatures from Brown University, in 1968 and 1974, respectively.

Holiday Hart McKiernan
Holiday “Holly” Hart McKiernan joined the Lumina Foundation for Education in 2003 where she serves as vice president for strategic operations and chief of staff.  At Lumina, she directs the foundation’s legal affairs and leads their exploration of the Bologna Process and its implications on American higher education. Prior to Lumina, she was executive director and counsel for Alpha Chi Omega, advising universities on approaches to high-risk student behavior.  At Lumina, she has been a strong, keen advocate for the foundation’s Degree Qualifications Profile. She serves on the Board of Visitors for DePauw University, the Board of Directors of ADI, Inc., and the International Advisory Board for the Stetson University College of Law Center for Excellence in Higher Education Law and Policy. Ms. McKiernan received her bachelor’s degree from DePauw University as a Phi Beta Kappa graduate and her Juris Doctor degree from Indiana University.

Gail O. Mellow
Gail O. Mellow was appointed president of LaGuardia Community College in August of 2000. She has served in various capacities at community colleges in Maryland, Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey: as adjunct faculty, tenured faculty, academic dean, provost, and president. In addition, she was the director of the Womens Center at the University of Connecticut and the director of the Project on Women and Technology.  She received an A.A. from Jamestown Community College, a B.A. from SUNY Albany, where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa, and her M.A. and Ph.D. from The George Washington University.

Lester P. Monts
Lester P. Monts is the Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, Senior Counselor to the President for the Arts, Diversity and Undergraduate Affairs, and Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Music at the University of Michigan.  Monts has served on the music faculties of Edinboro University, University of Minnesota, Case Western Reserve University and the University of California at Santa Barbara. From 1988 to 1993, he served as dean of undergraduate affairs in the College of Letters and Science, where he directed Santa Barbara's undergraduate honors program.  Dr. Monts earned his B.A. in music at Arkansas Polytechnic College, earned a Master of Music in trumpet performance from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, and a Ph.D. in musicology from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.

Brian Murphy
Brian Murphy became President of De Anza College in 2004. Prior to his appointment, he served as executive director of the San Francisco Urban Institute at San Francisco State University.  Among other positions, he was chief consultant to the California State Legislature’s reviews of the Master Plan for Higher Education and the community college reform process in the late 1980s.  He has taught at the University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Clara University, and San Francisco State University. Dr. Murphy received his bachelor’s degree from Williams College and his master’s and doctoral degrees in political science from the University of California, Berkeley.

Elsa Nuñez
Elsa Nuñez became President of Eastern Connecticut State University in 2006. Prior to her appointment, she served as Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs in the University of Maine System, after serving as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Lesley University, University Dean for Academic Affairs and Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs at the City University of New York, and Associate Dean of Faculty at the College of Staten Island of The City University of New York. Dr. Nuñez received her undergraduate degree from Montclair State College, her master’s from Farleigh Dickinson University, and her doctoral degree in linguistics from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.

Edward J. Ray
Edward Ray became President of Oregon State University in 2003.  Prior to his appointment, he served as Executive Vice President and Provost at Ohio State University where he was a member of the economics faculty for more than 30 years, serving as department chair from 1976 to 1992.  Dr. Ray’s research interests include the history of protectionism in the U.S., the role of financial reform in economic development, and foreign direct investment in the U.S. and abroad.  He has been published in leading economic journals and has authored or co-authored several books on economics topics.  Dr. Ray received his B.A. in Mathematics from Queens College (CUNY) and his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Economics from Stanford University.

Sidney A. Ribeau
Sidney A. Ribeau became President of Howard University in 2008.  Prior to his appointment, he served as President of Bowling Green State University for 13 years after holding the position of Vice President for Academic Affairs at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. Over the course of his academic and administrative career, he also has been Dean of the College of Liberal Arts at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo; Dean of Undergraduate Studies at California State University, San Bernardino; and Chair of the Pan African Studies Department at California State University, Los Angeles.  Nationally, Dr. Ribeau serves on a number of boards, including the board of the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association-College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA-CREF) and the Committee of Underrepresented Groups and the Expansion of the Science and Engineering Workforce Pipeline.  Dr. Ribeau received his undergraduate degree from Wayne State University and his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in interpersonal and group communication from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Michael S. Roth
Michael Roth became President of Wesleyan University in 2007. Prior to his appointment, he served as president of the California College of the Arts, was the founding director of the Scripps College Humanities Institute (where he served as Hartley Burr Alexander Professor of the Humanities), and was an associate director of the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles. Dr. Roth received his bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan University as a Phi Beta Kappa graduate with University Honors and earned his doctorate in history from Princeton University.

Kenneth P. Ruscio
Kenneth P. Ruscio became president of Washington and Lee University in 2006. Dr. Ruscio served as the Dean of the Jepson School of Leadership Studies at University of Richmond for four years before assuming his present position.  Prior to his tenure at the University of Richmond, he held various positions at W&L including Professor of Politics, Associate Dean of The Williams School of Commerce, Economics and Politics, and Dean of Freshmen. He was a postdoctoral research scholar at the University of California, Los Angeles from 1983 to 1985, and taught at both Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Kansas University. Dr. Ruscio earned his B.A. in politics from Washington and Lee University and earned an M.P.A. and Ph.D. from Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

Carol Geary Schneider
Carol Geary Schneider is president of the Association of American Colleges and Universities. Under her leadership, AAC&U has launched several major initiatives, including Liberal Education and America’s Promise:  Excellence for Everyone as a Nation Goes to College and Greater Expectations, a multi-faceted initiative on the aims and purposes of liberal education for the twenty-first century.  While a vice president at AAC&U in the 1990’s, Dr. Schneider also led a signature program, American Commitments:  Diversity, Democracy, and Liberal Learning.  Prior to her work at AAC&U, she taught at the University of Chicago, DePaul University, Chicago State University and Boston University. Dr. Schneider received her undergraduate degree from Mount Holyoke College and her PhD from Harvard University.

Theda Skocpol
Theda Skocpol is the Victor S. Thomas Professor of Government and Sociology at Harvard University.  At Harvard, she has served as Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (2005-2007) and as Director of the Center for American Political Studies (2000-2006). In 1996, Skocpol served as President of the Social Science History Association, and in 2002-03, she served as President of the American Political Science Association. In 2007, she was awarded the Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science for her "visionary analysis of the significance of the state for revolutions, welfare, and political trust, pursued with theoretical depth and empirical evidence.”  Her books and articles have been widely cited in political science literature and have won numerous awards, including the 1993 Woodrow Wilson Award of the American Political Science Association for the best book in political science for the previous year.  Dr. Skocpol has a B.A. from Michigan State University and a Ph.D. from Harvard University.

Robert J. Sternberg (Treasurer)
Robert Sternberg is Provost and Senior Vice President at Oklahoma State University, serving as chief academic officer with responsibilities that include oversight of the colleges, including the Honors College and Library, as well as scholar development, academic services to students, and assessment. Sternberg previously served as dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at Tufts University from 2005-2010. A member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Dr. Sternberg's research covers a wide range of areas, including intelligence, creativity, wisdom, leadership, love and close relationships, and hate. Sternberg received his B.A. degree summa cum laude from Yale University and his Ph.D. from Stanford University, both in psychology, and has been awarded 11 honorary doctorates from around the world.

Sanford J. Ungar
Sanford J. Ungar became President of Goucher College in 2001. Prior to assuming his position at Goucher, Mr. Ungar was Director of the Voice of America, the U.S. government’s principal international broadcasting agency, for two years. From 1986 until 1999, he was Dean of the School of Communication at American University in Washington, DC.  Mr. Ungar obtained his B.A. in Government magna cum laude from Harvard College and a Master's degree in International History from the London School of Economics and Political Science, where he was a Rotary Foundation fellow.

Carl Moses (Ex Officio/ACAD Chair)
Carl Moses is Provost at Susquehanna University.  Prior to assuming this role in July 2010, he served as the deputy provost for academic affairs at Lehigh University after holding the roles of associate dean for undergraduate studies in the College of Arts and Sciences and interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the same institution.  Moses received his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Princeton University and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in environmental sciences from the University of Virginia.  His principal research interest has been aqueous geochemistry, the chemical interactions of rocks and water in the natural environment, and his research has been funded by the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy. Dr. Moses is an ex officio member of the Board by virtue of his position as Board Chair of the American Conference of Academic Deans (ACAD).