Inside AGB

Ellen-Earle Chaffee Assumes Leadership Role at AGB

Ellen-Earle Chaffee, PhD, joined AGB as interim president and CEO on October 2, 2023. Her distinguished career spans institutional, system, policy, and national professional leadership in both public and private higher education, as well as extensive research and publication. The past president of two universities and two national professional associations, Chaffee has led executive, academic affairs, student affairs, research, and equal opportunity initiatives. She has served on and consulted with numerous governing boards, as well as national organizations in higher education research, health care, allied health, and foundations.

Prior to accepting the role of interim president, Chaffee was a senior fellow and senior consultant at AGB. She provided a broad range of consulting services to boards and presidents of AGB-member institutions, with more than 120 engagements to date, and she co-directed a project on Board Oversight of Educational Quality funded by the Teagle Foundation. From 2009–2011, she directed the Governance for Student Success project funded by the Lumina Foundation, focusing on strategic finance to help board and executive leaders deal with the impact of the nation’s Great Recession.

Throughout her career, Chaffee has focused on leadership and organizational effectiveness, strategic thinking, organizational change, turnaround management, innovation, continuous quality improvement, accountability, decision-making, and the role of information and technology. Chaffee earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Kentucky, a master’s degree from North Dakota State University, and a master’s and PhD in higher education administration and policy analysis from Stanford University.