Profiles

Roberta Morehouse joined CIC in 2024 as the conference and program manager. In this role, she coordinates logistical details and manages registration for the annual Institute for Chief Academic Officers, Presidents Institute, and the biennial Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education (NetVUE) Conference. Additionally, Morehouse supports CIC’s annual series of Department and Division Chair Workshops […]

Erica Prosper Nirenberg is senior director of customer insights at H-E-B and is the first lady of San Antonio, Texas. She co-founded and was the 2016 Chair of the Latina Leadership Institute and has led the creation of multiple education programming, youth entrepreneurship programming, and women’s economic development white papers with Rai$ing Texas, the SABER […]

Christon G. Arthur is president at La Sierra University (CA). Prior to his presidency, he served as provost and chief academic officer at Andrews University (MI). His professional experience includes serving as dean of the school of graduate studies and research at Andrews and as professor of educational administration and associate dean of the college […]

Cynthia Alby joined Georgia College in 2001, where she is a professor of teacher education and faculty director of GC Journeys. She works extensively with the Center for Teaching and Learning and is also the lead lecturer for Georgia College’s “Governor’s Teaching Fellows,” a faculty development program with which she has worked since 2001. Alby […]

Shirley V. Hoogstra is president emerita of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU), an educational association representing over 185 colleges and universities around the world. She is a regular speaker at conferences and campuses across the country, speaking on and for Christian higher education, and has been quoted in The Washington Post, The […]

Kristen Shahverdian is the program director for campus free speech at PEN America, a nonprofit organization focusing on the intersection of literature and human rights to protect free expression in the United States and worldwide. Before PEN America, Shahverdian was a senior lecturer at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and was an adjunct […]

Tony Banout is the inaugural executive director of the University of Chicago’s Forum for Free Inquiry and Expression. Prior to his role at the University of Chicago, Banout served as senior vice president and before that vice president of institutional advancement at Interfaith America. A lifelong advocate for ideological diversity and inclusion in academia, Banout […]

Jacqueline Pfeffer Merrill joined CIC in 2024. She is the director of the Campus Free Expression Project, a project she launched at the Bipartisan Policy Center and brought to CIC in 2024. Earlier in her career, she was on the faculties of College of William & Mary (VA) and St. John’s College (MD). She has […]

Amanda Ripley is a New York Times bestselling author, a Washington Post contributing columnist, and the co-founder of Good Conflict, a media and training company that helps people reimagine conflict. She has written three award-winning, nonfiction books about three very different subjects: High Conflict, The Smartest Kids in the World, and The Unthinkable. Her work […]

Richard Guarasci served as the 18th and longest serving president of Wagner College (NY) and currently serves as principal of Presidential Partners, a higher education consulting form specialized in creating inclusive, thriving, and sustainable communities. Earlier, Guarasci was the dean of the college at Hobart and William Smith (NY) and before that served as associate […]