February 16, 2022 — Washington, DC
The Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) Board of Directors elected Michael Maxey, president of Roanoke College (VA), as chair of the Board during its January 4, 2022, meeting in Marco Island, Florida. The Board also elected six new members to the Executive Committee and eight new members to serve on the Board.
President Maxey will serve a two-year term from January 2022 to January 2024. After joining the CIC Board in January 2018, Maxey was named Vice Chair for Programs in 2021. As Chair of the Board, Maxey will preside at meetings of the Board and of CIC; represent the organization; and appoint committees and commissions with the advice of the Board. Among the responsibilities of the CIC Directors are providing fiduciary oversight for the allocation of CIC’s assets and approving operating budgets; participating in the development and approval of long-range plans; and advising on the direction of the association’s programs and services.
CIC is the only national higher education association that focuses solely on providing services and a broad range of initiatives directly to independent colleges and universities to help improve the quality of education and strengthen institutional resources.
“The Council is pleased to have Michael Maxey as chair of the Board and warmly welcomes several new Board members with significant experience,” said CIC President Marjorie Hass. “CIC is in the midst of implementing many exciting new projects, programs, and services, and needs a strong Chair and dedicated Board to oversee their planning and execution. I am certain that President Maxey and the full Board will serve the Council admirably, and I look forward to working with all of them.”
The following officers were elected to CIC’s Executive Committee with terms ending in January 2024.
Chair
Michael Maxey, President, Roanoke College (VA)
Vice Chair for Programs
Barbara A. Farley, President, Illinois College
Secretary and Vice Chair for Membership
Elfred Anthony Pinkard, President, Wilberforce University (OH)
Treasurer
John L. Comerford, President, Otterbein University (OH)
Vice Chair for Resource Development
Paul Pribbenow, President, Augsburg University (MN)
Vice Chair for Public Information
J. Bradley Creed, President, Campbell University (NC)
Vice Chair for Investment
Mary-Beth A. Cooper, President, Springfield College (MA)
New members of the Board elected in January (with their terms of service) include:
Jeff Abernathy, President, Alma College (MI) (January 2023)
Amine Bensaid, President, Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane (Morocco) (January 2025)
David W. Bushman, President, Bridgewater College (VA) (January 2025)
Katie Conboy, President, Saint Mary’s College (IN) (January 2024)
Harry E. Dumay, President, Elms College (MA) (January 2025)
Logan Hampton, President, Lane College (TN) (January 2025)
Elizabeth MacLeod Walls, President, William Jewell College (MO) (January 2025)
Amy McCormack, President, Calumet College of St. Joseph (IN) (January 2025)
Jeff Abernathy is the 13th president of Alma College in Michigan, where he also teaches environmental literature courses for the Alma College English Department. Previously, Abernathy served as vice president and dean of Augustana College in Illinois, as vice president for academic affairs and dean of the college at West Virginia Wesleyan College, and as a faculty member in English at Illinois College, where he also served as associate dean. His primary area of study is African American literature; he is the author of To Hell and Back: Race and Betrayal in the Southern Novel. Abernathy earned a BA in English from Longwood College, an MA in English from Virginia Commonwealth University, and PhD in American literature from the University of Florida.
Amine Bensaid is president of Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane, Morocco, since 2019. He is a computer scientist who specialized in pattern recognition, machine learning, image processing, fuzzy logic, neural networks and genetic algorithms, and their applications to magnetic resonance imaging, data mining, web mining, and Arabic IT—fields in which he is author of many publications. He was president of Université Mundiapolis in Casablanca from 2011 to 2019. Since 2017, he has served as chair of the board of the Moroccan-American Commission for Educational and Cultural Exchange, which administers the Fulbright Program in Morocco, and he is on the boards of Morocco’s agency for evaluation and quality assurance and the national commission for higher education. Amine holds a BS in information systems, an MS in computer engineering and a PhD in computer science and engineering from the University of South Florida.
David W. Bushman was named president of Bridgewater College in Virginia in 2013. Previously, Bushman was the founding dean of the Mount St. Mary’s University (MD) School of Natural Science and Mathematics, and earlier, president of Lees-McRae College (NC). Prior to that presidency, he served in a variety of roles at Mount St. Mary’s, including dean of academic services, director of assessment, chair of the department of science, and associate professor of biology. He has served in leadership capacities for several higher education groups, including as chair of the Council of Independent Colleges of Virginia and chair of the President’s Council of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. Bushman earned a BS in biology summa cum laude from Loyola College (MD) and an MS and PHD in entomology from the University of Maryland.
Katie Conboy became the 14th president of Saint Mary’s College (IN) in 2020. Previously, she served as provost and senior vice president for seven years at Simmons University (MA). As Simmons’s chief academic officer, she was a member of the President’s Strategy Team, led the Deans Council, and executed overall responsibility for academic affairs. Earlier, Conboy spent 26 years at Stonehill College (MA), where she was first a member of the faculty and then the college’s first provost. She has published widely on British fiction, feminist theory, and Irish literature. Conboy has chaired CIC’s Chief Academic Officer Task Force and served on the board of directors of the American Conference of Academic Deans, the advisory board for the National Institute for Technology in Liberal Education, and the boards of trustees for Boston College High School and Trinity Catholic Academy, both in Massachusetts. She earned a BA in English from the University of Kansas and a PhD in English literature from the University of Notre Dame.
Harry E. Dumay became the 11th president of the College of Our Lady of the Elms (MA) (popularly known as Elms College) in 2017. He has served in higher education finance and administration at senior and executive levels for 19 years. Prior to assuming the presidency of Elms College, Dumay was senior vice president for finance and chief financial officer for Saint Anselm College (MA). Earlier, he served as chief financial officer and associate dean at Harvard University’s Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, associate dean at Boston College’s Graduate School of Social Work, and director of finance for Boston University’s School of Engineering. In addition, he was an adjunct faculty member at Boston College for nine years. Dumay currently serves as commissioner of the New England Commission for Higher Education and as a member of the board of directors for the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in Massachusetts, the board of trustees of Endicott College (MA), and of the Student Aid Policy Committee for the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities. He earned a BS magna cum laude from Lincoln University (PA), an MA in public administration from Framingham State University, an MBA from Boston University, and a PhD in higher education administration from Boston College.
Logan Hampton was named the tenth president of Lane College in Tennessee in 2014. Prior to coming to Lane College, Hampton served in numerous student services capacities at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, most recently as vice provost for student affairs. Previously, he held positions at Texas A&M University, Texas Christian University, and the University of Central Arkansas, and was a member of the board of trustees for Arkansas Baptist College. Hampton earned a BA in biology from Arkansas Tech University, an MA in student personnel services from Northwestern State University (LA), and a doctorate in higher education from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. He also is a graduate of the Harvard Institute of Management and Leadership in Education.
Elizabeth MacLeod Walls became the 15th president of William Jewell College in Missouri in 2016. She previously served in numerous academic and senior leadership roles in higher education, most recently as dean of University College at Nebraska Wesleyan University. She serves on the boards of the Kansas City Area Chamber of Commerce, the Kansas City Area Development Council, the Liberty Economic Development Council, the KC Rising Steering Committee, and the Keystone Community Corporation overseeing Kansas City’s burgeoning Innovation Hub. MacLeod Walls earned a BA in English and history (Phi Beta Kappa) at Hiram College (OH) and a PhD in English literature and classical rhetoric from Texas Christian University. She also is an alumna of the Harvard New Presidents Program, the Harvard Management and Leadership in Education Program, ACE Women’s Leadership Program, and the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy Programs.
Amy McCormack has been president of Calumet College of St. Joseph in Indiana since 2017. She previously was senior vice president for finance and administration at Dominican University (IL), where she also taught accounting in the executive MBA program in Poland. In 2015, McCormack received a Fulbright Scholarship for the International Education Administrators Program to study higher education in France. She currently serves on the boards of the Calumet Collaborative and Boys and Girls Club of Greater Northwest Indiana, on the Founder’s Advisory Council for Big Shoulders Northwest Indiana, and as treasurer of the Independent Colleges of Indiana. McCormack earned a BA in accounting from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business, an MA in business administration from Dominican University’s Brennan School of Business, and a PhD in higher education management from the University of Pennsylvania.
The Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) is an association of 765 nonprofit independent colleges and universities, state-based councils of independent colleges, and other higher education affiliates, that works to support college and university leadership, advance institutional excellence, and enhance public understanding of independent higher education’s contributions to society. CIC is the major national organization that focuses on services to leaders of independent colleges and universities and state-based councils. CIC offers conferences, seminars, publications, and other programs and services that help institutions improve educational quality, administrative and financial performance, student outcomes, and institutional visibility. It conducts the largest annual conferences of college and university presidents and of chief academic officers in the United States. Founded in 1956, CIC is headquartered at One Dupont Circle in Washington, DC.