Presidential Perspectives

Dr. Marylouise Fennell, RSM

Dr. Marylouise Fennell, RSM, is an internationally recognized management consultant in higher education. Dr. Fennell specializes in independent higher education as a mentor, counselor, search consultant, and consultant to presidents, administrators, and boards of trustees of colleges and universities, as well as forprofit businesses that serve the non-profit sector.

Dr. Fennell brings a unique perspective to her specialty - namely, an intimate knowledge and respect of the presidency and higher education administration. She has served as President of Carlow University in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania; served as Assistant Dean of the Graduate Division of St. Joseph College in West Hartford, Connecticut; and has been a tenured faculty member, Department Chair, Division Chair, founder and Director of the Counseling Institute, Director of the Pastoral Ministry Institute, and founder and Director of the Cross Cultural Counseling Symposium. Prior to these assignments, she served in teaching and clinical positions at the University of Hartford and Boston University. Dr. Fennell is the first graduate of the University of Hartford to be named a College President.

In 1999, Governor Tom Ridge named Dr. Fennell a Distinguished Daughter of Pennsylvania. Dr. Fennell is the Senior Counsel for The Council of Independent Colleges and has been the chief consultant for the Association of Private Universities of Central America. She has assisted the Central American Universities in the establishment of an accreditation system and is the author of the Central American Accreditation Guidelines for Excellence in Education. Dr. Fennell is presently serving as Executive Director of the Inter-American Consortium of Higher Education.

Dr. Fennell presently serves on numerous boards and has served as a trustee on more than 50 boards throughout her career. She was the first woman to be elected to the Board of Directors of the Duquesne Club, which was founded in 1873. Dr. Fennell has won many awards and received approximately 45 honorary degrees. She is widely published.

Dr. Scott D. Miller

Dr. Scott D. Miller is the President and M.M. Cochran Professor of Leadership Studies at Bethany College in West Virginia. Dr. Miller earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from West Virginia Wesleyan College, Master of Arts from the University of Dayton, Ed.S. from Vanderbilt University, and Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration from Union Institute & University.

Now in his 21^st year as a college chief executive officer, Dr. Miller served for 10 ½ years (1997–2007) as President of the College and Du Pont Professor of Leadership Studies at Wesley College in Delaware. He also has served as President of Lincoln Memorial University (1991–97). Before being named president there, he served as executive vice president (1988–91) and vice president for development (1984–88). A native of Pennsylvania, Dr. Miller is a former director of university relations and alumni affairs at the University of Rio Grande in Ohio and a former journalist. Well known nationally for his contributions to higher education, he was one of 17 presidents nationwide featured in a Kaufman Foundation-funded book entitled The Entrepreneurial College President (American Council on Education/Praeger Series on Higher Education, 2004). Dr. Miller and the Wesley story were one of four amazing transformational stories featured in the book The Small College Guide to Financial Health (National Association of College & University Business Officers, 2002) and one of six featured in The Small College Guide to Financial Health:Weathering Turbulent Times (NACUBO, 2009). He was extensively interviewed in The First 120 Days: What A New President Much Do (Jerold Panas, 2008). He is a regular columnist for College Planning and Management and is the author of a widely distributed e-newsletter, The President’s Letter, which addresses a wide variety of higher education issues.

Both Drs. Fennell and Miller serve as consultants to college and university presidents and boards.