Dr. Clara Lovett Joins the ACTA Team as a Scholar-in-Residence

The American Council of Trustees and Alumni today welcomes the addition of Dr. Clara Lovett as ACTA’s scholar-in-residence. Dr. Lovett’s primary focus will be on accreditation reform. 

Lovett is the president emerita of Northern Arizona University and former president of the American Association for Higher Education. She has been a faculty member at an array of higher education institutions, including Baruch College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. She also served as chief of the European Division of the Library of Congress, dean for the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences at The George Washington University, and as provost at George Mason University.

“I couldn’t be more thrilled to welcome Clara to the ACTA team,” said Anne Neal, ACTA president. “Her experience and vision as a dedicated higher education leader will be instrumental as we work hard toward accreditation reform. She will be a tremendous asset to the ACTA family.”

In 1989, Lovett was recognized as one of Washingtonian magazine’s most influential women in Washington. Three years later, she was named “Educator of the Year” by the Virginia Federation of Business and Professional Women. In 2005, she was honored by the American College Personnel Association for her lifetime contributions to higher education, and was later recognized as one of 12 “Women Who Make a Difference” by the International Women’s Forum.

Lovett also collaborated with several governors on the creation of Western Governors’ University, the first accredited institution in the nation to award degrees based on demonstrated competencies rather than accumulation of credit hours and one of the first online universities in the world. She is currently a trustee of Thunderbird, The Graduate School of Global Management, and of the National Council on Teacher Quality.