INDIANAPOLIS–Lumina Foundation has appointed Carol Geary Schneider the Foundation’s latest fellow. Lumina engages prominent thought leaders committed to dramatically increasing the number of Americans with high-quality postsecondary credentials. Lumina fellows work with the Foundation’s executive team to advance Lumina’s mission by analyzing issues and recommending solutions. They use their national prominence to influence the dialogue around issues of importance to Lumina’s work.
Geary Schneider is president emerita of the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U). She has worked for the entirety of her career to ensure that all college students, including working adults, receive a broad and empowering liberal education, whatever their career interests or socio-economic circumstances.
“Because of Carol’s expertise on higher education equity and quality, Lumina Foundation enlisted her back in 2010 as part of a small design team to create what became the Degree Qualifications Profile (DQP),” said Jamie Merisotis, president and CEO of Lumina Foundation. “The DQP is a framework for quality learning intended to provide broad guidance on the essential components of college learning across multiple degree levels. Carol’s leadership on that work, among other projects, will be an excellent resource going forward for the Foundation and our new strategy on reaching the Goal.”
Geary Schneider served as president of AAC&U from 1998 until June 2016. AAC&U is the leading national organization devoted to advancing and strengthening undergraduate liberal education. During her presidency, the organization doubled in size, from 675 to 1350 institutions, half public and half private.
She is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College with a bachelor’s degree in history (Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa). She studied at the University of London’s Institute for Historical Research and earned a Ph.D. in history from Harvard University. She has taught at the University of Chicago, DePaul University, Chicago State University and Boston University and has been a visiting scholar at The Getty Institute and the American University of Cairo. She has published extensively on quality and equity, including strategies for braiding quality and equity together and has led widely influential change initiatives including LEAP (Liberal Education and America’s Promise), a comprehensive effort to make quality learning inclusive rather than exclusive.
About Lumina Foundation:
Lumina Foundation is an independent, private foundation in Indianapolis that is committed to making opportunities for learning beyond high school available to all. We envision a system that is easy to navigate, delivers fair results, and meets the nation’s need for talent through a broad range of credentials. Our goal is to prepare people for informed citizenship and for success in a global economy.