Profiles

Simone Smith joined CIC in February 2024 as the director of sponsorships. In this role, she is responsible for the cultivation, recruitment, and management of sponsorship relationships with companies providing services to independent colleges and universities and supporting CIC activities, as well as managing existing, and securing additional, multi-year agreements. Prior to joining CIC, Smith […]

Ellen Peters joined CIC in 2024 as the director of strategic research and assessment. In this role, she provides leadership for CIC’s member engagement initiatives, utilizing data to make informed decisions about future programing and offerings to current and prospective members. Prior to joining CIC, Peters was the associate provost for institutional research, planning, and […]

Gerald Griffin is provost at Hope College (MI). Griffin joined the Hope faculty in 2015 as a member of both the departments of biology and psychology. Prior to his current appointment, he served as neuroscience program director, associate provost, and interim provost. Griffin is an accomplished scholar whose research interests primarily focus on the reciprocal […]

Ryan Sandefer became vice president for academic affairs at the College of St. Scholastica (MN) in 2020. He also currently serves as interim vice president for enrollment management and student affairs. Earlier in his career at St. Scholastica, Sandefer served in several other administrative roles, including as chair of the department of health informatics and […]

Jeffrey Frick joined Washington & Jefferson College (PA) as vice president for academic affairs and dean of the college in 2019. Prior to this appointment, he served St. Norbert College (WI) in the same role. Earlier in his career, Frick was professor of chemistry at Illinois Wesleyan University, where he also held administrative positions as […]

Karen An-hwei Lee is provost and professor of English at Wheaton College (IL). As provost, she leads Wheaton’s senior academic leadership team, serves on the senior administrative cabinet, and oversees all aspects of the academic division including the faculty, academic records and services, centers and institutes, global programs and studies, institutional research, library and archives, […]

Celia Cook-Huffman joined Manchester University (IN) as vice president for academic affairs in 2020. She returned to Manchester, her undergraduate alma mater, after spending 30 years at Juniata College (PA), where she began her academic career as a faculty member in peace and conflict studies. During her time at Juniata, Cook-Huffman held the W. Clay […]

Marina Esteve-Offord joined CIC in 2023 and is the executive assistant to the SVPAP and manager of academic programs and HR. In this role, she supports the work and coordinating aspects of leadership development programs and grant-funded projects that fall within the scope of the vice president for academic programs’ role. She also supports certain […]

Walter Earl Fluker serves as Distinguished Professor of the Howard Thurman Center at the Hartford International University for Religion and Peace (CT), and Professor Emeritus of Ethical Leadership (formerly the Martin Luther King, Jr. Chair) at Boston University (MA). He was the founding executive director of the Andrew Young Center for Global Leadership Center and […]

Darby Kathleen Ray is the Donald W. and Ann M. Harward Professor of Civic Engagement at Bates College (ME), where she also is professor of religious studies and director of the Harward Center for Community Partnerships. In this role, she leads institutional strategy and program development in support of the college’s civic mission, teaches in […]