The National Academy for Academic Leadership
Leadership that Transforms Learning

Founding Principals

Bob DiamondRobert M. Diamond Ph.D.

Bob is President of The National Academy for Academic Leadership. He served for over twenty years as Assistant Vice Chancellor for Instructional Development at Syracuse University, where he also was Research Professor and Director of the Institute for Change in Higher Education. From 1991 to 1999 he directed the National Project on Institutional Priorities and Faculty Rewards. Bob's major publications include Designing and Assessing Courses and Curricula, Preparing for Tenure and Promotion Review, and Serving on Promotion and Tenure Committees. He co-authored National Studies on the Perceived Balance Between Research and Undergraduate Teaching at Colleges and Universities and was co-editor of The Disciplines Speak and Faculty Reward Systems for the Year 2000. r.m.diamond@verizon.net

Paula BrownleePaula P. Brownlee Ph.D.

Paula is President Emerita of the Association of American Colleges and Universities and former President and Professor of Chemistry at Hollins College. She served also as Dean of Faculty at Union College and Academic Dean of Douglass College at Rutgers University. Paula is a member of the University of Rochester Board of Trustees, serving on the executive committee and chairing the academic affairs committee; she also chairs the board of the Academic Search Consultation Service. She is a past chair of the board of the Educational Testing Service and of the American Association for Higher Education, and she served on the board of Bell Atlantic-Virginia. Paula is a consultant to colleges and universities on strategic planning, board and presidential relations, and presidential evaluations. She has written extensively on understanding contemporary liberal education. pbrownlee@hughes.net

Lion GardinerLion F. Gardiner Ph.D.

Lion is Associate Professor of Zoology at Rutgers University, Campus at Newark, where he also has served as co-director of the Teaching Assistant Training Program and led the Faculty Seminar on Students, Learning, and Teaching for the Teaching Excellence Center. He has been a staff member at the New Jersey Department of Higher Education. Lion is the author of Redesigning Higher Education: Producing Dramatic Gains in Student Learning and Planning for Assessment: Mission Statements, Goals, and Objectives. He co-authored Learning Through Assessment: A Resource Guide for Higher Education. Lion is a consultant to colleges and universities on student learning and assessment, defining and assessing student learning outcomes, and faculty professional development. gardiner@andromeda.rutgers.edu

Dan WheelerDaniel W. Wheeler Ph.D.

Dan is Professor of Extension and Higher Education and Coordinator of the Office of Professional and Organizational Development at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and has held faculty positions also at the University of Nebraska-Omaha and within the State University of New York system. He is co-author of The Department Chair: New Roles, Responsibilities, and Challenges; Enhancing Faculty Careers: Strategies for Development and Renewal; The Academic Chairperson's Handbook; and Academic Leadership in Community Colleges. Dan is a consultant to colleges and universities, within and outside the United States, on career development and the role of the chairperson in facilitating faculty growth and development. dwheeler@unlvoter.unl.edu

Dan WheelerChuck Spuches Ed.D.

Dr. Chuck Spuches is Associate Dean for Outreach, Instructional Quality and Technology at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry. He also is an adjunct associate professor in the Syracuse University graduate program in Instructional Design, Development, and Evaluation. Spuches teaches traditional classroom and online courses on educational project management, planned change and innovation, and college teaching and serves on dissertation committees in instructional design and adult education. He earned a doctorate from Syracuse University in instructional design. He has attended the Wharton School/Institute for Research in Higher Education Executive Education Program, and the Harvard University Institute for the Management of Lifelong Education. Chuck played a major role in designing the Academy's organizational structure, planned and facilitated the Academy's unique national design retreats, and designed and facilitated its first national workshop.