Robert Zemsky

Robert Zemsky is professor of higher education, chair of the Learning Alliance for Higher Education, and senior scholar for Penn AHEAD, all at the University of Pennsylvania. He is co-author of
The College Stress Test: Tracking Institutional Futures across a Crowded Market (2020). Zemsky has spent his entire career at the University of Pennsylvania, serving as chair of the Learning Alliance, a broad coalition of experts assisting institutions of higher learning in striking the balance between market success and public mission; as the founding director of the university’s Institute for Research on Higher Education, a public policy center specializing in educational research and analysis; and as professor in the higher education division. His work has focused on how best to keep colleges and universities true to their missions while at the same time remaining market smart. In addition to his recent book, he is author of
Making Reform Work: The Case for Transforming American Higher Education (2009) and
Remaking the American University: Market Smart and Mission Centered with Gregory Wegner and William Massy (2005), among others. Zemsky has served as a member of the National Commission on the Future of Higher Education, as a senior scholar with the National Center for Postsecondary Improvement, and as a founding member of the National Advisory Board for the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE).