Board Member
Jonathan R. Alger
President, American University; Vice Chair, AAC&U Board of Directors
Jonathan Alger became the 16th president of American University on July 1, 2024. Previously, he served for 12 years as the president of James Madison University (JMU). Under his leadership, JMU developed a bold new vision to be “the national model of the engaged university: engaged with ideas and the world,” and a strategic plan focused on engaged learning, community engagement, and civic engagement. JMU evolved significantly under Alger’s leadership. In 2022, JMU was reclassified as an R2 national research university under the Carnegie Classifications. Its endowment more than doubled, and in 2022, JMU also transitioned to the Sun Belt Conference and the highest level of Division I Football.
Alger is a nationally recognized scholar and speaker on higher education policy and law, and a national leader in the field of civic engagement in higher education. He earned his B.A. with High Honors, Phi Beta Kappa, from Swarthmore College, and his J.D. with Honors from Harvard Law School.