RIDGE-LANE Limited Partners expands National Advisory Board on Higher Education

WASHINGTON, Aug. 31, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Former Governor of Pennsylvania and first Secretary of U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Thomas J. Ridge, and financier R. Brad Lane expand their National Advisory Board on Higher Education with distinguished Presidents, Provosts, and Chancellors.

• Ted Mitchell: serves as President of The American Council on Education (ACE), the nation's most respected association of more than 1,700 colleges and universities, whose members educate two out of every three students in all accredited, degree-granting U.S. institutions. Dr. Mitchell served as U.S. Under Secretary of Education, where he oversaw postsecondary education policies and programs. He was President of Occidental College, Vice Chancellor and Dean of the Graduate School of Education at the University of California, and Chair of the Department of Education at Dartmouth College.

• Carol Christ: serves as Chancellor of the University of California – Berkeley, where she leads 350 degree programs across 14 colleges and schools with 45,000 students, ~$800 million in annual research and development, as well as affiliations with three national laboratories: Berkeley, Livermore and Los Alamos. Dr. Christ was President of Smith College, with prior roles at UC Berkeley including Director of the Center for Studies in Higher Education, Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost.

• Gary S. May: serves as Chancellor of the University of California - Davis, where he leads four colleges and six professional schools serving 39,000 students, garnering $850 million annually for research. Dr. May was Dean of the College of Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology and served as Chair of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Board of Directors for the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities.

• Bob Caret: serves as Chancellor Emeritus of the University System of Maryland (USM), where he oversaw 12 universities, 3 regional centers, and its online degree program University of Maryland Global Campus, which collectively serve ~200,000 students. Dr. Caret was President of the University of Massachusetts System (UMass), President and Provost of Towson University, as well as President of California State University - San Jose. He served as Chair of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities as well as Chair of the National Association of System Heads.

• Nancy Zimpher: served as Chancellor of the State University of New York (SUNY), the nation's largest comprehensive system of higher education, with ~500,000 students across 64 colleges and universities, where she spearheaded system-wide innovation including shared services, expansion of online learning, partnerships with administrators of K-12 districts. Dr. Zimpher was President of the University of Cincinnati, Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and Dean of the College of Education at The Ohio State University.

• Michael Crow: serves as President of Arizona State University, where he leads 17 colleges, with 170 cross-disciplinary centers and institutes, offering 400 degree or certificate programs to ~100,000 students, recognized as the nation's most innovative school by U.S. News & World Report in 2016, 2017 and 2018. Dr. Crow was Executive Vice Provost and Vice Provost for Research at Columbia University, where he also served as Chief Strategist responsible for establishing Columbia Science and Technology Ventures.

• Robert J. Jones: serves as Chancellor of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - the flagship institution of the state university system, which contains 14 colleges with 150 undergraduate and 100 graduate programs, as well as a Research Park home to innovation centers for 90 start-up companies and multinational corporations. Dr. Jones was President of State University of New York - Albany (SUNY), as well as Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice Provost for Faculty and Academic Programs at University of Minnesota System.

• Peter P. Smith: serves as Chair of Innovative Practices in Higher Education at the University of Maryland, responsible for strategic direction of University of Maryland Global Campus' (UMGC) 90,000 students and 6000 faculty on 4 continents. Dr. Smith was Senior Vice President of Academic Strategies at Kaplan Higher Education and President of Kaplan Open College, as well as Assistant Director General of the United Nations - Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) where he advised Ministries of Education in developing national education plans in 30 countries.

• John S. Wilson Jr: served as President of Morehouse College, Senior Advisor to the President at Harvard University, and President in Residence at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Dr. Wilson was the Executive Director of the White House Initiative on HBCU's, an Associate Professor in the Graduate School of Education at George Washington University, as well as Assistant Provost at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

• Eloy Ortiz Oakley: serves as Chancellor of the California Community College System, which is the largest system of higher education in the United States, comprised of 115 colleges serving more than 2 million students, with a budget of $8 billion and additional Federal funding in excess of $1 billion. He serves on the board of the American Association of Community Colleges, and on the Board of Regents at the University of California System.

• Paul LeBlanc: serves as President of Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU), which he grew from 2,500 students to over 100,000 with 200+ career-focused programs - ranked the second largest non-profit provider of online higher education in the country, and the first to have a full competency-based degree program untethered to the credit hour or classes that is approved by a regional accreditor and the US Department of Education. SNHU was #12 on Fast Company magazine's "World's Fifty Most Innovative Companies" list and was the only university included. 

• Eduardo J. Padron: is President Emeritus of Miami Dade College (MDC), having served as its President for ~25 years, credited with elevating MDC into a position of national prominence among the best and most recognized U.S. colleges and universities, including its rank as the largest degree granting institution in America. Dr. Padron was Chair of the Board of Directors for the American Council on Education and Chair of the Board for the Association of American Colleges and Universities.

• Daniel Greenstein: serves as Chancellor of Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE), which oversees 14 state-owned colleges and universities. Dr. Greenstein was the Director of Post-Secondary Education at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as Vice Provost for Academic Planning and Programs at the University of California System, with responsibility for all 10-campus' representing 220,000 students, where he also served as Director for UC Online Education.

• Marty Meehan: serves as President of the University of Massachusetts System (UMass), the state's public research university system, with college campuses in Boston, Dartmouth, Amherst, Lowell, and Worcester. He previously served as Chancellor of UMass Lowell. Mr. Meehan was elected to represent the 5^th Congressional District of Massachusetts in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he served for 14 years, including as a member of the Armed Services and Judiciary committees.

• Dan Arvizu: serves as Chancellor of New Mexico State System of Higher Education (NMSU). Dr. Arvizu is the Director Emeritus at U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).  He led Sandia National Laboratories as Director of Advanced Energy Technology and Policy, as well as Director of Technology Transfer. Dr. Arvizu served as Chief Technology Officer at Emerson Collective and as Chairman of the U.S. National Science Board, which oversees the National Science Foundation.

• Kevin Reilly: serves as President Emeritus and Regent Professor of the 26-campus University of Wisconsin (UW) System, developing the long-term vision and strategic framework for the university, resulting in enrollment growth to ~200,000 and sponsored research in excess of $1 billion per annum, ranked among the five most productive state systems and public sectors of higher education. Dr. Reilly was the Associate Provost for Academic Programs and then Secretary of the State University of New York (SUNY) System.

"We are experiencing unprecedented and pervasive challenges to our nation's public education systems, where 20+ million post-secondary students are experiencing disruptions to the access of rigorous and relevant coursework in productive learning environments - which is critical to human development, workforce readiness, and economic productivity," said R. Brad Lane, CEO of RIDGE-LANE LP

"Our distinguished team brings an unparalleled breadth and depth of domain expertise - bridging research & practice, teaching & learning, private innovation & public implementation - with a mission of advancing novel solutions to grand challenges and critical needs of individuals, institutions, communities, and society as a whole."

RIDGE-LANE Limited Partners is a venture development firm – focused on root-cause solutions to grand challenges in Education, Sustainability, and Information Technology – with a team of General Partners, Venture Partners, and Senior Advisors who have served at the highest levels of finance, government, and the military. 

We create value for our clients and society by bridging the gaps between private-sector innovation, investment capital, policy and procurement – across the Federal, State, and Local levels: an innovation ecosystem, providing corporate development to commercialize and scale novel technology companies, as well as place-based solutions that improve cities and quality of life.

Innovators tackling grand societal challenges:  [email protected]

For more information visit:  www.RIDGE-LANE.com

SOURCE Ridge-Lane Limited Partners

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