Advisors

Barbara Brittingham

President Emerita, The New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE)

Barbara Brittingham is President Emerita of the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE), which accredits 220 colleges and universities in the six New England States and eleven American-style institutions abroad. Previously she served as a member and chair of the Commission.

Brittingham was founding dean of the College of Education at Zayed University in the United Arab Emirates and worked in Ankara, Turkey, while on a World Bank project. She served as a Fulbright Senior Specialist in Vietnam and Morocco. Earlier she was Dean of the College of Human Science and Services at the University of Rhode Island where she also served as Interim Dean of University Libraries, Director of the Curriculum Research and Development Center, and Professor of Education. She earned her B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees from Iowa State University. The principal areas of focus of her publications and presentations are fund raising, teacher preparation, and quality assurance in higher education.

Currently she serves on the board of Quality and Qualifications Ireland; the Quality Board in Iceland; and the National Student Clearinghouse. She has served on the boards of six national accreditation organizations in the U.S. and has worked with ministries and universities in over twenty-five countries, sponsored by the Fulbright Commission, the U.S. State Department, the World Bank, and local governments and universities. She has served as a non-federal negotiator, U.S. Department of Education negotiated rule-making Team I Program Integrity Issues and testified on distance education and competency-based education before the U.S. Senate HELP Committee and on accreditation before the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training.

Bronté Burleigh-Jones

CFO, Vice President and Treasurer at American University

Bronté Burleigh-Jones is the CFO, Vice President and Treasurer at American University. Burleigh-Jones is a frequent presenter on a variety of topics, including finance, accreditation, communication, leadership and diversity at the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO), American Council of Education (ACE) and Association of Governing Boards (AGB) conferences. She often is called upon to be a presenter for the NACUBO Fellows Program, as well as a contributing author for their Business Officer magazine. In 2017, she received the organization’s Professional Development Award for her extensive volunteer service to the association’s professional development activities and publications programs.

Burleigh-Jones has more than 30 years of experience in financial and facilities management in higher education. She previously served as the vice president for finance and administration at Dickinson College where she oversaw all areas of finance and campus operations. Before joining Dickinson in 2013, she served as treasurer of St. John’s College, and vice president for administration and finance and dean of enrollment management at Huston-Tillotson University. Prior to her roles in higher education, she served as senior project manager at the Texas State Auditor’s Office and Assistant Controller at the National Headquarters of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

Burleigh-Jones is the immediate past board chair and former treasurer for the Higher Education Resource Services (HERS) Institute for Women in Higher Education and a former Middle States Accreditation Commissioner. She currently serves as the Secretary/Treasurer of the Subscriber’s Advisory Board for United Educators and member of the Tuition Exchange Board of Directors.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in finance and an MBA from American University and a doctorate in higher education administration from the University of Texas, Austin. She is a graduate of the Harvard Institute for Higher Education and the HERS Institute at Wellesley College.

Mark Burstein

President Emeritus, Lawrence University

During his more than twenty-five years in higher education, Burstein focused on creating learning communities in which all members can reach their full potential.

As Lawrence University’s 16th president, Burstein’s vision for Lawrence built on the unique intellectual strengths of the university. During his tenure, the University’s endowment more than doubled to close to half a billion dollars, the student average debt at graduation decreased by 20%, and the curricular offerings expanded into disciplines such as neuroscience, global and public health, data science, ethnic studies, and music improvisation. More than 50 years ago the consolidation of Lawrence College and Milwaukee Downer College created Lawrence University.

He came to Lawrence from Princeton University where, as Executive Vice President, he led efforts to enhance campus life and modernize operations and infrastructure. Prior to Princeton Burstein held several senior positions at Columbia University. As Vice President for Facilities Management, he developed the plan and acquired over $250 million of real estate for a new 17 acre, 6.8 million square foot campus now under construction. Earlier, as Columbia’s first Vice President of Student Services, he managed the registrar’s office, financial, health, housing, and retail services for the benefit of 20,000 students.

Burstein earned a Master of Business Administration in Finance from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and he earned a Bachelor of Arts in History and Independent Studies from Vassar Colleg

Arthur N. Dunning

President Emeritus, Albany State University

Arthur N. Dunning was named interim president of Albany State University in December 2013 and was appointed president in November 2015 by University System of Georgia Chancellor Hank Huckaby. As president, he focused on recruiting academically talented students and developing programs to help students remain in college and thrive until graduation. He championed academic rigor, increasing financial support in the academy through endowments and scholarships, high quality customer service and economic development.

Dr. Dunning led the consolidation of Albany State University and Darton State College and became president of the new university. A veteran administrator, scholar and lecturer, he has a distinguished track record in higher education in Alabama and Georgia. He has also worked and traveled in more than 30 countries. His portfolio includes experience in international education in East and Southeast Asia where he worked as a civilian chief executive officer for the U.S. Department of Defense Dependents Schools in Thailand.

Prior to serving as president of Albany State University, Dr. Dunning served as Vice Chancellor for International Programs and Outreach for the University of Alabama System in Tuscaloosa. In higher education in Georgia for nearly 35 years, Dr. Dunning served in key leadership positions. He served as Vice President for Public Service and Outreach at the University of Georgia; Dean of Graduate Studies and Sponsored Research at Kennesaw State University; and Senior Vice Chancellor for Human and External Resources at the University System of Georgia.

The Alabama native earned his bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees at the University of Alabama.

Janet Holmgren

President Emerita, Mills College

Janet L. Holmgren is a consultant to higher education and nonprofit organizations. Some of her recent consulting work includes the Lower Cost Models for Independent Colleges Consortium. She is an adjunct faculty member of the Center for the Study of Higher Education at the University of California, Berkeley.

Her longest service to a single higher educational institution was her 20-year tenure as President and Susan Mills Professor at Mills College (Oakland, CA) from 1991 to 2011. Her leadership at Mills supported building substantial new and enhanced graduate programs; more than $150 million in renovation and new construction; and enhancing diversity in the student body and the faculty. Before joining Mills, she served as Vice Provost of Princeton University, Senior Administrator at the University of Maryland, College Park, and faculty member at the University of Maryland and the University of the District of Columbia.

She has chaired the Boards of the American Council on Education, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement for Teaching and Learning, the National Council for Research on Women, the Association of California Independent Colleges and Universities, and UpStart — a national organization supporting innovative Jewish leadership. She has served on numerous educational institution boards including Princeton University and the Urban School of San Francisco.

Steven L. Isenberg

Chair Emeritus, Board of Trustees and former Interim President, Adelphi University

Steven L. Isenberg has served with distinction in public leadership positions at universities, newspapers and within New York City government.

He was Chair of the Board of Trustees, after his appointment to the Board by the New York State Regents, and Interim President at Adelphi University, where he was awarded an honorary doctorate and his board received the highest commendation from the Association of Governing Boards. He was the President of the Executive Advisory Board to the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of California at Berkeley. He was Publisher of New York Newsday and the Executive Vice President of The Los Angeles Times, and is a member of the Senior Advisors to the Committee to Protect Journalists. When John V. Lindsay was Mayor of New York City, Isenberg was Chief of Staff. His later career includes visiting professorships of the humanities at Berkeley, the University of Texas at Austin, and Davidson College, and leading PEN America, the literary human rights group, as its Executive Director.

Isenberg holds a B.A. in English from the University of California at Berkeley, an M.A. in English Language and Literature from Worcester College, Oxford where he is an Honorary Fellow, and a J.D. from Yale Law School.

Jamienne S. Studley

President & CEO of the WASC Senior College and University Commission

Jamienne Studley is president of the WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC), a higher education association committed to student success and a respected institutional accrediting agency recognized by the US Department of Education. Throughout her career in higher education leadership and policy, public service, and civil rights advocacy, she has worked to advance equity, justice, public engagement, and building bridges.

She was deputy undersecretary of the U.S. Department of Education from 2013-16 and acted as undersecretary and assistant secretary for postsecondary education. She chaired the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI, 2008-13; chair, 2011-13), and earlier was the department’s deputy and then acting general counsel (1993-99).

Ms. Studly was President of Skidmore College and Associate Dean & Lecturer in Law at Yale Law School. A graduate of Barnard College (magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa) and Harvard Law School, she has been professor of practice (public policy), Mills College and adjunct faculty at UC Berkeley and Stanford Law Schools. Ms. Studley’s nonprofit experience includes CEO and now President Emerita of Public Advocates Inc., executive director of the National Association for Law Placement, and national policy advisor to Beyond 12. She serves on the boards of KQED and the Foundation for Student Success.