W&L’s President Elected Board Chair of Association of American Colleges and Universities
Kenneth P. Ruscio, president of Washington and Lee University, has been elected chair of the board of directors of the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), a leading voice of higher education at the national level.
His election took place on Jan. 25 during the association’s annual meeting, in Washington. Ruscio has served on the board since 2010.
AAC&U is concerned with the quality, vitality and public standing of undergraduate liberal education. It comprises more than 1,300 member institutions—accredited public and private colleges, community colleges, research universities and comprehensive universities.
Washington and Lee, along with all of the association’s members, is committed to extending the advantages of a liberal education to all students, regardless of academic specialization or intended career.
At the beginning of the meeting, AAC&U released an extensive report showing that that liberal arts majors are successful in two key areas: long-term career success and earnings.
Ruscio took office as the 26th president of Washington and Lee University in 2006. A 1976 alumnus of W&L and a distinguished scholar of democratic theory and public policy, he previously served as the dean of the Jepson School of Leadership Studies at the University of Richmond, from 2002 to 2006.
The author of the 2004 book “The Leadership Dilemma in Modern Democracy,” Ruscio has previously served as national president of Omicron Delta Kappa, the national leadership society begun at W&L in 1914.
He also serves on the board of the Council of Independent Colleges and on the executive committee of the Associated Colleges of the South.
