Richard D. Legon
Rick Legon began his tenure in January 2006 as the fourth president of the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges.
His experience working with public and independent higher education governing boards, as well as boards of other nonprofit organizations, spans more than 30 years. Much of his experience is focused on the board's responsibilities for fund-raising and financial matters.
Rick frequently is called on to work with system, campus, and institutionally related foundation boards to address responsibilities, structure and development, and effectiveness. Further, he often moderates discussions at trustee meetings and is a speaker and panelist at higher education conferences and programs.
He was instrumental in developing AGB's portfolio of services for public college and university foundations. In that capacity, he coordinated the development of AGB's handbook for foundation boards and is the editor of the association's book, Margin of Excellence--The New Work of Higher Education Foundations, published in 2005. He has written several articles on the board responsibilities for AGB's Trusteeship magazine and Currents magazine, published by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. In addition, he wrote two booklets in AGB's Board Basics Series:"Governing Board and Foundation Board Relations" and "The Board's Role in Fund-Raising."
In the first year of Rick's leadership, the association launched a year-long strategic planning process and several initiatives, including the following:
- AGB's Project on College Costs
- The Task Force on the State of the Academic Presidency
- The Trustee Advocacy Network
Rick holds a master's degree in public administration from George Washington University, has held posts with other nonprofit associations, and has served in both federal and local government agencies. He was named to the Board of Visitors for the Virginia State University by Gov. Tim Kaine. Rick is a former trustee of the University of Charleston (West Virginia). He lives in Northern Virginia.
Contact Rick at president@agb.org
