Dr. Shirley Robinson Pippins joined Academic Search in 2016. Prior to this consulting experience, she served in major regional and national leadership roles including Senior Vice President of Programs and Services at the American Council on Education (ACE). These programs and services included all of ACE’s leadership development programs, Spectrum, the Office of Women, and the Center for Racial and Ethnic Equity. She also served on the Executive Committee of the American Association of Community Colleges, where she was Chair of the Audit and Finance Committee.
Dr. Pippins has served as president of three colleges (Thomas Nelson Community College in Hampton, Virginia; Suffolk County Community College in Long Island, New York; and Victory University, a small Christian, liberal arts institution in Memphis, Tennessee). Over the course of her career, she has identified and/or developed talented individuals for leadership positions, including presidents, vice presidents, and deans.
The institutions led by Dr. Pippins have in common a commitment to academic excellence and student success. The community colleges she led have had strong articulation agreements and partnerships with local, regional, and state institutions of higher education. These institutions have also been leaders in workforce and economic development for their regions, with strong corporate partnerships leading to funding for workforce development centers, related facilities, and successful fundraising and major gift campaigns. During Dr. Pippins’ tenure, Suffolk County Community College was the recipient of a $5 million-dollar anonymous gift.
In volunteer leadership roles, Dr. Pippins has served as the two-time chair of the Commission for Women at the ACE. She is also the immediate past Vice Chair of HERS, an organization dedicated to creating and sustaining a diverse pool of women leaders in higher education.
Dr. Pippins has been actively involved in identifying and developing talent necessary to achieve and sustain excellence in higher education. She currently serves as a faculty member for The Executive Leadership Academy at UC Berkeley. The program provides opportunities for the strategic development of a diversified talent pool for higher education. Dr. Pippins has supported ACE’s Regional Women’s Leadership Forum, designed for mid-level women administrators, and ACE’s Spectrum Aspiring Leaders Program. The Spectrum program focuses on developing a diverse pool of mid-level managers. Dr. Pippins continues to work with former AACC higher education leaders to design and provide a leadership opportunity for women leaders through A2MEND. She plays a similar leadership role in a program designed for diverse professionals through the Leadership Institute for Tomorrow (LIFT) through California State University, Fullerton.
Dr. Pippins holds an Ed.D. from Columbia University Teachers College, a M.A.T. from Manhattanville College, and a M.A. from the University of Illinois, where she was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. She is also a graduate of Harvard’s Institute for Educational Management.
