Dive Brief:
- Lynn Pasquerella, current president of Mount Holyoke College, has been selected to take over as the head of the Association of American Colleges and Universities.
- Pasquerella will replace Carol Geary Schneider as president of the association, starting her term July 1.
- Past board chair Kenneth P. Ruscio, president of Washington and Lee University and chair of the search committee, said Pasquerella’s commitment to liberal education and inclusive excellence — as well as her understanding of higher education in today’s society — impressed the board.
Dive Insight:
Schneider has been president of the AAC&U since 1998, most recently advocating for a broad consensus across traditional higher education when it comes to student learning outcomes. The association’s members have a strong commitment to liberal education and have many of the same goals for their students, but some across the industry expect it would be significantly harder to find consensus among a more diverse group of colleges and universities.
Pasquerella is a philosopher and ethicist with decades of experience in higher education as a faculty member and administrator. Before taking up her position at Mount Holyoke, she served as provost at the University of Hartford and held a range of administrative positions at the University of Rhode Island, where she spent the bulk of her career.