James T Harris Author

James T. Harris is President and Professor of Education at Widener University. Under his leadership, Widener has been recognized by The Chronicle of Higher Education as a ""Best College to Work For,"" and Newsweek ranked Widener in the top 10 nationally for community service. Prior to his appointment at Widener, he served as President of Defiance College. Dr. Harris has served on the national boards of the Campus Compact, the NCAA, the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). He has earned numerous awards, including being named as one of the top 50 character-building presidents in America by the Templeton Foundation and the Chief Executive Leadership Award from CASE. Dr. Harris has published over 20 academic articles and chapters and has been a faculty member in the Harvard University Management Development Program for over a decade. He earned degrees from the University of Toledo, Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, and Pennsylvania State University.

Jason E. Lane is Director of Education Policy Studies at the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government, the public policy think tank of the State University of New York (SUNY). He is also an Associate Professor of Educational Administration and Policy Studies and a Senior Researcher with the Institute for Global Education Policy Studies at the University at Albany, SUNY, where he co-directs the Cross-Border Education Research Team (C-BERT).

Gail F. Baker is vice president and provost of the University of San Diego. She was dean of the College of Communication, Fine Arts and Media at the University of Nebraska Omaha. At the University of Florida, she served as chair of the Department of Public Relations in the College of Journalism and Communications. She later served as vice president of public relations and special assistant to the president. At the University of Missouri-Columbia, she was chair of advertising and directed the Minority Recruiting Program of the School of Journalism. She also served as president of the Association of Chief Academic Officers. Baker holds a bachelor of science degree from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, a master of science degree in marketing communications from Roosevelt University and a doctorate in journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She held public relations positions with IBM and International Harvester (now Navistar). She was a reporter and editor for the Chicago Daily Defender Newspaper. She has earned recognition for her work as a teacher, scholar, communications practitioner and writer. She has authored books and articles and is the winner of four Emmy Awards for Excellence in Documentary Writing and Producing.

Jeffrey C. Sun is Professor of Higher Education and Law, Distinguished University Scholar, and Associate Dean for Innovation and Strategic Partnerships at the University of Louisville. At Louisville, Dr. Sun established the university's first competency-based education program, advanced new initiatives for career and technical education teachers, developed accelerated learning pathways for veterans, established several partnerships with the U.S. Army including cadre/faculty development and non-commissioned officer leadership development, created a college leadership development program (i.e., College Academic Learning of Leadership [CALL] Academy), and led projects that expanded his department enrollments more than 25% within 3 years during his time as department chair. In addition, Dr. Sun has served as Project Director and Principal Investigator for over $19 million in grants/contracts examining professional/career education, leadership development, and higher education policy and law. He has co-authored seven books within these areas. Dr. Sun received a BBA and an MBA from Loyola Marymount University, a law degree (JD) from the Moritz College of Law at The Ohio State University, and an MPhil and a PhD from Columbia University.