President/Chancellors

The Johnson County Community College Board of Trustees unanimously approved the appointment of Dr. Andrew W. Bowne as the college's new President. Dr. Bowne currently serves as Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Ivy Tech Community College. Read more here.

Mount Mercy University’s Board of Trustees has appointed Dr. Robert (Bob) Beatty to serve as its 10th president, effective July 1, 2020.  Dr. Beatty has served as the dean of the Soules College of Business and F.M. and Fannie Burke Professor at the University of Texas at Tyler, the dean of the Lutgert College of Business at Florida Gulf Coast University, the dean of the Rohrer College of Business at Rowan University, and the dean of the School of Business at Whitworth University. He was a member of the faculty at Northern Illinois University, Texas Christian University, Miami University, and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Dr. Beatty began his professional career as an officer in the United States Air Force. Dr. Beatty earned a Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science from Texas Christian University, a Master of Computer Science Management from Creighton University, and a Master of Business Administration and Doctor of Business Administration from Mississippi State University. He is a graduate of the Institute for Management and Leadership in Education Program at Harvard University.  Read more here.

Milliken University has announced the appointment of Dr. James M. Reynolds as its 16th president, effective July 1, 2020. Dr. Reynolds currently serves as President of Wilmington College in Wilmington, Ohio, a position he's held since 2012. Prior to Wilmington College, Dr. Reynolds served as the academic vice president at Midland Lutheran College in Fremont, Nebraska. Previously, he held various teaching and administrative positions at Drake University, including Associate Dean and Interim Dean of the College of Pharmacy. Dr. Reynolds earned a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from Drake University and a Master of Arts in Zoology from DePauw University. His Ph.D. in Biology is from Illinois State University. For more information click here.

Nazareth College in Rochester, NY, has named Dr. Elizabeth Paul as its 10th President. She was welcomed to the Nazareth community by the outgoing president Dr. Daan Braveman. Dr. Paul has served as the 16th president of Capital University in Columbus, Ohio, and previously spent seven years as the senior academic officer at Stetson University in Central Florida. Dr. Paul holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a doctorate in personality psychology, both from Boston University. She did a pre-doctoral training fellowship with the National Institute of Mental Health, and earned a certificate in higher education administration from Harvard Institute for Educational Management. Read more here.

The Illinois Board of Higher Education has named veteran education administrator, Ms. Ginger Ostro, as its new Executive Director. Ms. Ostro brings deep experience in Illinois education to the role, most recently serving as Interim Chief Financial Officer and Vice President for Financial Operations at Chicago State University. Earlier in her career, she served as Deputy Executive Director at the Illinois Student Assistance Commission and as Director of the Office of Budget Planning at Governors State University. Read more here.

The California Western School of Law has appointed Ms. Sean Megan Scott to serve as its next president and dean, effective August 1, 2020. The appointment is the latest of Scott’s many leadership positions in the legal academy. She most recently served as associate director of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS), the largest and most prestigious legal academic society in the United States. In that role, she was charged with promoting AALS programs that furthered the association’s core values of improving legal education, promoting diversity, and advocating for justice. From 2008 to 2016, Scott served as senior associate dean and associate dean for faculty at LMU Loyola Law School in Los Angeles (LLS), where she established the school’s Master of Science in Legal Studies (MLS) program. Scott currently serves on the Board of Governors of the Society of American Law Teachers (SALT) and is a past member of the Board of Directors of the California Women’s Law Center. Before joining academia, Scott was an associate in the Los Angeles office of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP. She earned her Juris Doctor from New York University School of Law.  Read more here.

The University of Nebraska Board of Regents has chosen Vice Admiral Walter "Ted" Carter as the eighth president of the University of Nebraska system. Vice Admiral Carter most recently served as Superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy.

The North Dakota State Board of Higher Education has selected Dr. Andrew Armacost as the 13th president of the University of North Dakota. Dr. Armacost recently completed his service as Dean of the Faculty at the U.S. Air Force Academy. Read more here.

Ave Maria University has completed their presidential search with the appointment of Christopher Ice as the University’s third president. Mr. Ice comes to the University with a deep passion for Catholic, liberal arts education, many years of experience as an executive in the corporate and private sectors as well as Catholic non-profit organizations, with an impressive background of fundraising in Catholic higher education at Franciscan University of Steubenville. He currently serves as chief executive officer of Catholic Charities of Kansas City-St. Joseph (Missouri), a position he has held since 2017. He will begin his presidency on January 1, 2020. Read more here.

Centenary University Board of Trustees has appointed Bruce Murphy, Ed.D., as the University’s 14th president. Dr. Murphy will begin his tenure at Centenary on Jan. 1, 2020.  Dr. Murphy is currently a consultant with the Registry for College and University Presidents, an organization that fosters the placement of interim presidents at institutions in transition. He was the fifth president of Nicholls State University in Louisiana and was also a professor of educational leadership there.  A U.S. Army veteran, Dr. Murphy retired with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He taught leadership courses at West Point and was vice president for academic affairs at the U.S. Air Force’s Air University in Alabama. Dr. Murphy’s higher education career has also included teaching posts at Vanderbilt University and Mercyhurst College, where he was the founding director of the Master of Science in organizational leadership program and chair of the Walker School of Business. In addition, he was the founding dean of the School of Business and professor of management at Point Park University. Dr. Murphy earned a doctorate in educational leadership from Vanderbilt University, master’s degrees from Teachers College at Columbia University and the University of Southern California, and a bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Berkeley. Read more here.