Liberal Education and America's Promise

National Leadership Council

As part of Liberal Education and America’s Promise, AAC&U formed the National Leadership Council (NLC) in 2006.  It is comprised of educational, business, community, and policy leaders who exercise strong leadership for liberal education in their own spheres of influence and advocate for an empowering, inclusive, and public-spirited liberal education for all students.

NLC LEAP Reports Available

See High-Impact Educational Practices: What They Are, Who Has Access to Them, and Why They Matter, the latest report from AAC&U's LEAP initiative. This publication defines a set of educational practices that research has demonstrated have a significant impact on student success. Author George Kuh presents data from the National Survey of Student Engagement about these practices and explains why they benefit all students, but also seem to benefit underserved students even more than their more-advantaged peers.

Read College Learning for the New Global Century (pdf), a report from the LEAP National Leadership Council, identifies the essential aims, learning outcomes, and guiding principles for a 21st century college education. Download full report (pdf), executive summary (pdf), or purchase printed copies.

Also see results of national polls of business leaders and recent graduates -- "How Should Colleges Prepare Students To Succeed in Today's Global Economy?" (pdf), and example of LEAP Principles of Excellence in Practice.

Members of the National Leadership Council:

Derek Bok
President Emeritus
Harvard University

Myles Brand
President
National Collegiate Athletic Association

John Casteen
President
University of Virginia

Mary Sue Coleman
President
University of Michigan Ann Arbor

Ronald A. Crutcher, Co-chair
President
Wheaton College

Troy Duster
Director, Institute for the History of the Production
of Knowledge, New York University

Judith Eaton
President
Council for Higher Education Accreditation

James Gentile
President
Research Corporation for Science Advancement

Gina Glantz
Senior Advisor to the President
Service Employees International Union

Freeman A. Hrabowski, III
President
University of Maryland Baltimore County

Sylvia Hurtado
Director, Higher Education Research Institute
University of California, Los Angeles

Wayne C. Johnson
Vice President of University Relations Worldwide
Hewlett-Packard Company

Roberts T. Jones
President
Education & Workforce Policy, LLC

H. Peter Karoff
Founder and Chairman (retired)
The Philanthropic Initiative

George D. Kuh
Chancellor’s Professor and Director
Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research

Barbara Lawton
Lieutenant Governor
State of Wisconsin

Stephen Mittelstet
President
Richland College

Azar Nafisi
Visiting Fellow, Foreign Policy Institute
Johns Hopkins University

Martha Nussbaum
Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics
University of Chicago

Peggy O’Brien, Co-chair
Chief Communications Officer
District of Columbia Public Schools

James F. Orr, III
Chair, Board of Trustees
The Rockefeller Foundation

Keith J. Peden
Senior Vice President of Human Resources
Raytheon Company

Christi M. Pedra
Chief Executive Officer
Siemens Hearing Instruments

Chellie Pingree
Congresswoman-elect
1st District, Maine
U.S. House of Representatives

Sally E. Pingree
Trustee
Charles Engelhard Foundation

Lois Quam
Managing Director, Alternative Investments
Piper Jaffray & Co.

Carol Geary Schneider
President
Association of American Colleges and Universities

Lee S. Shulman
President (retired)
The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching

Donald M. Stewart
Visiting Professor
University of Chicago
Former President, The College Board and Spelman College

Deborah Traskell
Executive Vice President
State Farm Insurance Companies

Blenda J. Wilson
Interim President
Cedar Crest College

Jack M. Wilson
President
University of Massachusetts System

Ruth Wooden
President
Public Agenda

In Memoriam

AAC&U deeply regrets the passing of National Leadership Council member, Stephen Weiss on April 16, 2008. At the time of his death, he was a managing director and senior portfolio manager of Neuberger Berman LLC and also was a member of the Board of Tulane University. Mr. Weiss also was a long-time member of the Board of Trustees at Cornell University and served on the board of the Teagle Foundation.

As a member of the National Leadership Council for LEAP, Mr. Weiss helped craft the 2007 report, College Learning for the New Global Century. He also spoke on the value of liberal education in today’s society and in the role of trustee in advising liberal education at the AAC&U Annual Meeting in New Orleans in January, 2007.

NLC Staff Contact at AAC&U

Coordinating Director: Bethany Zecher Sutton