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Marci Sortor

Provost and Dean of the College, St. Olaf College

Marci Sortor has served St. Olaf College as its Provost and Dean since 2011. Some of her recent activities have involved working to enhance student access to high impact learning experiences, including off-campus study, mentored undergraduate research, advising, internships, and learning communities. Recent presentations include speaking on interdisciplinary teaching, the design of interdisciplinary learning spaces, partnerships between Chief Academic Officers and Academic Affairs Committees of college and university boards, international study and global education, partnerships between CAOs and Chief Advancement Officers, and peer review of scholarship. In addition to serving on the ACAD board of directors, she currently serves on the boards of the Red Cross (southeast MN), and the Norwegian American Historical Association, and on the Oversight Committee of the Lever Press. Sortor received the PhD from the University of California San Diego, and held a teaching and research fellowship at Stanford University before moving to the Midwest to join the history faculty at Grinnell College. In addition to teaching, she served in various capacities at Grinnell. Her administrative roles at Grinnell included Associate Dean of the College, Vice President of Institutional Planning, and interim Vice President for College and Alumni Relations. She continues to research and write on the history of medieval cities, their trade networks, and financial connections among city dwellers.

Brian Norman

Vice President for Academic Affairs, Antioch College

Brian Norman is the Vice President for Academic Affairs at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, OH. Reopened in 2011 as a result of alumni activism, Antioch is continuing its pioneering history as a catalyst for change and laboratory for democracy while reinventing itself for the needs of the 21st century and hopes of the next generation. As VPAA, Brian works with the Antioch community to provide a transformative student experience that combines a rigorous liberal arts education, experiential learning, and commitment to justice through Antioch’s signature “classrooms, co-op, community” model. Before then, he served as the inaugural Dean of the Gwen Ifill College of Media, Arts, and Humanities at Simmons University in Boston where he worked with faculty and other community partners to build a mission, vision, and values for one of four new interdisciplinary colleges as part of a university strategic plan to bring together graduate and undergraduate education across the professions and liberal arts. Brian also served as Associate Vice President for Faculty Affairs and Diversity at Loyola University Maryland in Baltimore where he oversaw faculty development, faculty governance, and academic diversity initiatives.

As an academic leader, he believes in the transformative power of liberal education and the civic role of institutions of higher education. He brings special experience in organizational change, faculty development, institutional equity, and shared governance. He has also published on moving the needle on faculty diversity (Department Chair 2022), faculty leadership development (Change: A Magazine of Higher Education 2019), and religious pluralism and intolerance on campus (Conversations 2017).

As a scholar, he studies and teaches American literature, especially African American and twentieth-century literature, and he has published a number of books on the relationship between literature and social change, including Dead Women Talking: Figures of Injustice in American Literature (Johns Hopkins 2013), Neo-Segregation Narratives: Jim Crow in Post-Civil Rights American Literature (Georgia 2010), and The American Protest Essay and National Belonging (SUNY 2007). He has held residential fellowships at University of Maryland-Baltimore County, Wesleyan University, and Rutgers University.

David Ribble

Dean, D.R. Semmes School of Science, Trinity University (TX)

David Ribble is a biologist and professor at Trinity University, San Antonio, where he currently serves as the inaugural Dean of the D. R. Semmes School of Science. Prior to this role, he was the Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs: Budget and Research (2018-2023). Ribble has been a faculty member at Trinity since 1992, teaching courses in ecology, evolution, and conservation biology, with a strong emphasis on field-based learning.

His research focuses on the ecology and evolution of small mammals across various regions, including North and Central America and Africa. Notably, he was part of a team that discovered the grey-faced sengi, a rare elephant-shrew species in Tanzania. He has led student research expeditions to locations such as Mexico, New Mexico, Costa Rica, and Africa, integrating hands-on experience into Trinity’s curriculum.
As an administrator, Ribble played a key role in shaping academic programs, securing grants, and improving science facilities at Trinity, including contributing to the development of the Center for the Sciences and Innovation. He has received multiple teaching and service awards, including Trinity’s highest faculty honor, the Z.T. Scott Faculty Fellowship. Nationally, he has been involved in efforts to reform life sciences education through organizations such as Partnerships for Undergraduate Life Science (PULSE) and the Council on Undergraduate Research. His leadership philosophy emphasizes collaboration, community-building, and promoting undergraduate research.

Richard Badenhausen

Dean of the Honors College, Montana State University

Richard Badenhausen is Professor and Dean of the Honors College at Montana State University. Home to almost 2,000 undergraduates, the honors college is notable for its interdisciplinary curriculum, place-based learning experiences, and preparation of students for high-level research.

Badenhausen is a Past President of the National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC), the largest and oldest membership organization devoted to honors education. He is also a two-time member of the NCHC Board of Directors, an editorial board member of HIP: Honors in Practice, and a member of the organization’s Publications Board. In 2022, he co-chaired the task force that rewrote the national honors education standards for the first time in thirty years, resulting in the “Shared Principles and Practices of Honors Education.”

In 2011, Badenhausen was named an NCHC Fellow; and in 2016 he received NCHC’s Sam Schuman Award for Excellence at a Four-Year Institution, which is awarded to one national honors leader annually. He has published over a dozen essays on issues related to honors education and is the editor of Honors Colleges in the 21st Century (2023), which brings together the work of 56 authors representing 45 different institutions. Badenhausen regularly visits other universities to evaluate their honors programs and honors colleges as a consultant or program reviewer.

Previous roles include Founding Dean of the Honors College at Westminster University in Salt Lake City, where he also held the Kim T. Adamson Endowed Chair and served for fourteen months as interim provost. At Westminster, he was the recipient of the Gore Excellence in Teaching award and a two-time winner of the Manford A. Shaw Publication Prize for scholarly work. Before moving to Westminster, Badenhausen ran the honors program at Marshall University.

Over the past 25 years, Badenhausen has published widely on the work of T. S. Eliot and modernist literature, including T. S. Eliot and the Art of Collaboration (Cambridge University Press). He has a B.A. from Colgate University and an M.A. and Ph.D. in British Literature from University of Michigan.

Orlando J. Perez

Professor of Political Science and former Dean, School of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of North Texas at Dallas

Orlando J. Pérez is a Professor of Political Science and former Dean of the School of Liberal Arts & Sciences and Professor of Political Science at the University of North Texas at Dallas. He has been a member of ACAD since 2014 and served as an ACAD Fellow in 2020-21 and a member of the Annual Meeting Program Committee for the 2023 meeting. Dr. Pérez served as Associate Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences (AHSS) at Millersville University of Pennsylvania from 2014-19. He chaired the Department of Political Science at Central Michigan University (CMU) from 2009-13 and directed the Cultural and Global Studies Programs at the College of Humanities and Social & Behavioral Sciences (CHSBS) also at CMU (2013-14), where he rose through the ranks of faculty (1998-2014). As an administrator, Dr. Pérez’s record includes extensive experience with global studies, strategic planning, shared governance, assessment and accreditation, curricular development, and promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion. His teaching and research interests include comparative politics, Latin American politics, U.S.-Latin American relations, civil-military relations, public opinion, and empirical democratic theory. He is the author of Civil-Military Relations in Post-Conflict Societies: Transforming the Role of the Military in Central America (2015); The Historical Dictionary of El Salvador (2016); Political Culture in Panama: Democracy after Invasion (2011). Co-editor of Democracy and Security in Latin America: State Capacity and Governance under Stress (2022); and Latin American Democracy: Emerging Reality or Endangered Species? (1^st ed, 2009; 2^nd ed, 2015); and editor of Post-Invasion Panama: The Challenges of Democratization in the New World Order (2000). He received a B.S. in Biochemistry from the University of Miami, a B.A. in political science from Florida International University and an M.A. and Ph.D. in political science from the University of Pittsburgh.

Alicia Slater

Senior Associate Provost for Operations and Dean, School of Science, Marist University

Alicia Slater serves as Dean of Science and Senior Associate Provost for Operations at Marist University. Under her leadership, the Marist School of Science secured a $1.5 million National Science Foundation grant to support academically talented students with financial need. She has also led the development of the School of Science’s inaugural Advisory Board. She was appointed Senior Associate Provost for Academic Operations in 2024 – a leadership role that provides operational support to the Office of the Provost such as the planning and implementation of college-wide academic initiatives, policies, and procedures including budget management.

Formerly, Dr. Slater served for 16 years at Stetson University, where she held a variety of leadership roles including the University Director of Curriculum and Assessment, serving as Provost Faculty Fellow for Faculty development and was awarded the Hollis Chair for Health and Wellness in recognition of her work to promote academic success for first year students. She also received several student choice awards for her advocacy for first-year students. Her time at Stetson was marked by improved student retention and success (particularly for underrepresented students), the development of sophisticated assessment models to ensure academic quality, and support for faculty development and curricular innovation.

Dr. Slater has a B.S. in Biology from Georgia Institute of Technology, and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Biology from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Following her PhD program, she served as a National Science Foundation (NSF) Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Griffith University in Australia. Her academic research focuses on the genetic structure of freshwater invertebrates, and she has also published and presented extensively on best practices in teaching, student success, and assessment.

Kendrick Brown

Provost and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs, Morehouse College

Kendrick Brown is Provost and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. He served previously Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Redlands in Southern California for four and half years. For 18 years, he was a faculty member, department chair, and Associate Dean of the Faculty at Macalester College in Saint Paul, MN. His research focuses on the perception of allies by Black, Indigenous, and people of color, as well as how skin tone bias affects the psychological well-being of Black people and the ways in which interracial contact on sports teams can promote empathy and policy stances. Dr. Brown earned his B.A. degree with general honors from Mount Union College and both his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Michigan.

Laura Best

Executive Director

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Laura Best has been with ACAD since 2005 starting first as the administrative director. She was named executive director in 2011. Before ACAD, Laura worked as the director of development for the Student Press Law Center a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting the First Amendment rights of high school and college journalists. She helped establish their fundraising program and to launch a multi-million dollar endowment campaign. Before moving to the Washington, DC metro area in 1999 Laura also worked as a volunteer fundraiser for the Arts Center for Newaygo County in Newaygo, MI. She also spent many years volunteering at her daughter’s school, serving on school boards, and eight years as a Girl Scout leader/troop cookie manager. In her free time, Laura enjoys volunteering for nonprofits that support animal and child welfare issues as well as teaching indoor cycling classes. Laura received her B.S. in Public Administration and Community Development from Central Michigan University and her Masters of Nonprofit Management (MNM) from Regis University.

Sheila Adamus Liotta

Vice President for Academic Affairs, Saint Anselm College

Dr. Sheila Liotta has been the Vice President for Academic Affairs at Saint Anselm College since June of 2022. Previously, she served as the founding dean of the School of Arts & Sciences at Providence College from January of 2009 through June of 2022. Prior to her time as dean, she served as chair of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry for eight years. She joined the Providence College faculty in 1993.

As VPAA at Saint Anselm College, Dr. Liotta has engaged faculty to make recommendations on strategies for the College to maintain and promote its liberal arts component of its identity to inform academic planning. She has also overseen the launch of the School of Nursing and Health Sciences, the College’s first school, and is working with faculty to expand graduate program offerings across the College through the creation of new programs in strategic areas and the development of infrastructure to support a larger number of graduate students. At Providence College, through the development and support of both new academic programs and the College’s robust core curriculum, a renewed appreciation for the centrality of the liberal arts across the campus was realized during Dr. Liotta’s time as Dean. This helped to facilitate Providence College’s successful application, led by Dr. Liotta, for a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, the premier arts and sciences honors society, which was installed in April of 2022.

Dr. Liotta obtained her bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Rutgers University and her M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Cornell University. An organic chemist and a strong proponent of undergraduate research, Dr. Liotta supervised thirty-five student researchers in her Providence College laboratory. More recently, she primarily taught a course for non-science majors on contemporary issues in chemistry.

Bridget Keegan

Dean of Arts and Sciences, Creighton University

Bridget Keegan was appointed Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Creighton University in 2015, after serving two years as Interim Dean. Now in her twenty-third year at Creighton, she has held a variety of positions, including chairing the English department as well as the department of Modern Languages, serving a term as Associate Dean, and directing the university’s office of scholarships and fellowships. Dr. Keegan is deeply committed to the transformative power of a liberal arts education and led the team that brought a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa to Creighton’s campus in 2012. More recently she was instrumental in the design and launch of Creighton’s Kingfisher Institute for the Liberal Arts and Professions, which will support innovative, interdisciplinary research and curriculum. As a faculty member and now as dean, she is dedicated to creating a strong, institution-wide commitment for high-impact practices, most notably undergraduate research. She is equally passionate about student advising and mentoring and has recently begun a four-year comprehensive advising program for students that draws its foundation on the principles of discernment and service expressed by the founder of the Society of Jesus, St. Ignatius of Loyola.

Dr. Keegan received her A.B. in Literature from Harvard University and her Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Dr. Keegan’s areas of scholarly and teaching interests include eighteenth-century British literature, environmental literature and Catholic writers. She has written and edited numerous books and published over 40 essays, many devoted to the work of laboring-class authors. She serves as a grant reviewer for the NEH and the National Humanities Center as well as a reviewer for numerous journals and university presses.

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