President, San Diego State University – San Diego, California Former Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and Campus Diversity, University of California, Davis – Davis, California
Dr. Adela de la Torre was recently appointed by the California State University Board of Trustees as the new president of San Diego State University. Joining the campus in June 2018, Dr. de la Torre is the ninth permanent president of SDSU and the first woman to serve in that role. She brings with her 30 years of service in leadership roles within institutions of higher education, including the California State University system, the University of Arizona and the University of California, Davis.
Prior to her appointment as President, she served as the vice...
Chancellor and Chief Academic Officer, Pennsylvania State University, Wilkes-Barre– Lehman, Pennsylvania; Associate Professor of Public Administration, Pennsylvania State University
Dr. Dale Jones is Chancellor and Chief Academic Officer at Penn State Wilkes-Barre since January 2017. He is a key executive of the Pennsylvania State University (“Penn State”) and serves as a member of the Academic Leadership Council and Council of Campus Chancellors. He is responsible for the quality of academic programs; stewardship of the teaching, research, and service mission; strategic planning; budgeting; philanthropy; faculty and staff development; outreach; and community and alumni relations. He completed the University of California, Berkeley, Center for Studies in...
Chancellor, Contra Costa Community College District – Martinez, California; Former Chancellor, University of Minnesota, Crookston – Crookston, Minnesota
Dr. Fred Wood began his tenure as the eighth permanent Chancellor of the Contra Costa Community College District in January 2017. The District serves over 51,000 students at three colleges (Contra Costa College, Diablo Valley College and Los Medanos College) and two centers (Brentwood and San Ramon). The District is one of the largest multi-college community college districts in California, where more than 3,600 employees serve a county of over one million residents. Dr. Wood came to the District after serving as Chancellor at the University of Minnesota Crookston (UMC). UMC was...
Director, ACE Leadership, American Council on Education – Washington, DC
Gailda Pitre Davis leads the development and implementation of a broad strategic agenda for ACE Leadership programs, services and initiatives. She serves as the primary liaison to the ACE Women’s Network, a national network that supports women in higher education faculty and administration, and oversees the Moving the Needle: Advancing Women in Higher Education Leadership(link is external) initiative. Additionally, she...
Chancellor, Foothill-De Anza Community College District – Los Altos Hills, California
Since 2015, Judy C. Miner has been chancellor of the Foothill-De Anza Community College District, which is headquartered in Los Altos Hills, California. She has worked as a higher education administrator since 1977 and in the California Community Colleges since 1979.
Regionally, she serves on the Lone Mountain College Alumni Board, NOVA Workforce Board, and the advisory boards for the Los Altos Library Endowment and the Pebble Beach Authors and Ideas Festival. She is also on the Board of Trustees of the University of San Francisco and Board of Trustees of the Bay...
President, Sonoma State University – Sonoma, California Former Vice President for Student Affairs, University of California, Office of the President – Oakland, California
Dr. Judy K. Sakaki became Sonoma State University's seventh president on July 1, 2016. Sonoma State is one of 23 campuses within the California State University, the largest public university system in the country. She is the first Japanese-American woman in the nation to lead a four-year college or university.
Her career in higher education has been devoted to leading developing and implementing best practices in access, affordability, inclusion and student success. Previously, she served as Vice President for Student Affairs at the University of California-...
Senior Staff Writer, Diverse: Issues in Higher Education, – Alexandria, Virginia
Dr. LaMont Jones, Jr. is a 30-year veteran journalist who has written about style, fashion, and beauty for 20 years. An award-winning journalist across multiple media genres, he served a decade as fashion editor for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. For four years, he served as fashion coordinator for Pittsburgh Magazine and for two years published his own online fashion magazine, TheStyleArbiter.com. His fashion writings have appeared in publications around the nation and abroad. He also has done deadline reporting internationally, writing about jazz in Paris for NBC Universal in...
Senior Advisor, Blue Moon Consulting Group – Denver, Colorado; Former Associate Vice President, Communications
Born into an Irish family that revered mission and service, from an early age she followed the drive to serve a cause bigger than herself.
Lynn’s career began in the mid 1970’s working in Arson and Fire Prevention Programs in Lowell, Mass. It was her first real job with cops and firefighters and she was hooked.
She moved on to New York City in the early 1980’s becoming a media relations manager with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, owner and operator of John F. Kennedy, LaGuardia, and Newark International Airport, the World Trade...
Senior Associate Vice President for Development, University of San Francisco – San Francisco, California
Preston serves as the Senior Associate Vice President for Development at the University of San Francisco, but his roots at USF go much deeper. Preston earned a Bachelor of Science in Hospitality Industry Management and a Master of Arts in Organization & Leadership, both from USF. After his graduation, and prior to joining the university as a leadership team member, Preston served as President of the Alumni Board, as a constituent representative on the Board of Trustees, and on the Hospitality Industry Management Program Advisory Board.
Former President, Thomas Nelson Community College – Hampton, Virginia Former President, Suffolk County Community College – Long Island, New York
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.