Jamie Merisotis will assume his new role with the Foundation effective Jan. 1.

Lumina Foundation Letter Announcing New President and CEO

On behalf of the Board of Directors of Lumina Foundation for Education, I am pleased to announce the selection today of Lumina’s next president and CEO, Jamie P. Merisotis, a nationally respected expert in the field of higher-education policy.

Jamie has demonstrated a true passion for Lumina’s goal of increased access to – and success in – education beyond high school. He was asked to lead Lumina Foundation into the next stage of its existence as a result of a 10-month search, which followed the retirement announcement in December 2006 by our founding president and chief executive, Martha D. Lamkin. Her vision and leadership during the Foundation’s start-up phase as well as her commitment to the fields of philanthropy and higher education have been critical to Lumina Foundation’s evolution in the seven years since its inception.

In the years ahead, Lumina intends to more assertively promote fundamental changes in higher education that improve college access and graduation rates. The Lumina Board is confident no one is better qualified than Jamie to lead the Foundation. His experiences testifying before lawmakers have positioned him to lead aggressive public policy initiatives at state and national levels.

As founding president of the 14-year-old Institute for Higher Education Policy , a nonpartisan global research and policy center based in Washington, D.C., Jamie has built widespread respect among those committed to helping people realize their potential through postsecondary education. His work with the Alliance for Equity in Higher Education also has been critical to opening doors for minorities in higher education.

In a very high-profile way, Jamie will help Lumina advocate for a better-educated, civically engaged workforce to ensure individual opportunity – and our nation’s prosperity – amid global competition. It’s no secret the United States spends much more on higher education than many other developed countries. Nonetheless, our country has been falling behind for more than a generation in degree-completion rates among citizens ages 25 to 34. To improve America’s standing, we must rapidly find ways to educate millions more students, many of whom will come from the historically underserved groups that are expected to replace Baby Boomers as they leave the workforce. Jamie is committed to the steps Lumina Foundation has taken, and he has firm ideas about how to build upon this developing body of work.

Jamie, 43, currently lives in Arlington, Va., with his wife, Colleen O’Brien, and their son, Benjamin. In addition to leading the institute, Jamie is chairman of the board for Scholarship America, the nation’s largest private-sector scholarship and educational-support organization, and a member of the board of trustees of Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, where he earned his bachelor’s degree. He serves as a member of the board of the National College Access Network. Jamie will assume his new role with the Foundation effective Jan. 1. We welcome his leadership.

Sincerely,

John M. Mutz
Chairman of the Board
Lumina Foundation for Education

Source: Lumina Foundation For Education