Jamie P. Merisotis
Encyclopedia
Jamie P. Merisotis is president and CEO of Lumina Foundation for Education
, America
's largest private foundation committed solely to enrolling and graduating more students from college.
Merisotis managed IHEP's global efforts to leverage the social and economic effects of higher education, especially in southern Africa, the former Soviet Union and other developing areas. In 2006, he helped establish the Global Center on Private Financing of Higher Education, an IHEP initiative to address the growing role of private financing in expanding access to postsecondary education around the world. Additionally, Merisotis oversaw the Institute's work on college and university ranking systems, policy leadership development.
Prior to founding IHEP, Merisotis served as executive director of the National Commission on Responsibilities for Financing Postsecondary Education, a bipartisan commission appointed by the U.S. president and congressional leaders. He authored the commission's final report, Making College Affordable Again, and many of the commission's recommendations became national policy during the 1990s. Merisotis also helped create the Corporation for National and Community Service (AmeriCorps), serving as an advisor to senior management on issues related to the quality and effectiveness of national-service initiatives.
Merisotis' work has been published extensively in the higher-education field. He has written and edited several books and monographs, and he is a frequent contributor to magazines, journals and newspapers. His writing has appeared in The Washington Post, the Times Higher Education Supplement (London), The Chronicle of Higher Education, Higher Education in Europe, The Review of Higher Education
and other periodicals.
Merisotis is a member of the executive committee of the London-based European Access Network. He also is a member of the board of trustees of Bates College
in Lewiston, Maine, and previously served as president of the college's alumni association. He serves on several Indiana-based boards and commissions including the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership, the leading voice for regional economic development in the Indianapolis metropolitan area, as well as the Indiana Chamber of Commerce. Currently, he also serves on the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars Advisory Council, the Board of Directors of the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce, and the Indiana University Public Policy Institute Advisory Board. Merisotis' previous board service included chairman of the board for Scholarship America, the nation's largest private-sector scholarship and educational-support organization; vice chairman of the board of directors for the Washington Internship Institute; and member of the board of directors of the National College Access Network.
Lumina Foundation for Education
Lumina Foundation for Education is a private, Indianapolis-based foundation with about $1.4 billion in assets. Its mission is to expand student access to and success in education beyond high school...
, America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
's largest private foundation committed solely to enrolling and graduating more students from college.
Life and career
Before joining Lumina Foundation, Merisotis was founding president of the Institute for Higher Education Policy. Founded in Washington, D.C., in 1993, IHEP is an independent, non-partisan organization dedicated to access and success in postsecondary education. While at IHEP, Merisotis helped establish the Alliance for Equity in Higher Education, a coalition of national associations whose members represent more than 350 minority-serving institutions, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges and Universities, and Hispanic-Serving Institutions.Merisotis managed IHEP's global efforts to leverage the social and economic effects of higher education, especially in southern Africa, the former Soviet Union and other developing areas. In 2006, he helped establish the Global Center on Private Financing of Higher Education, an IHEP initiative to address the growing role of private financing in expanding access to postsecondary education around the world. Additionally, Merisotis oversaw the Institute's work on college and university ranking systems, policy leadership development.
Prior to founding IHEP, Merisotis served as executive director of the National Commission on Responsibilities for Financing Postsecondary Education, a bipartisan commission appointed by the U.S. president and congressional leaders. He authored the commission's final report, Making College Affordable Again, and many of the commission's recommendations became national policy during the 1990s. Merisotis also helped create the Corporation for National and Community Service (AmeriCorps), serving as an advisor to senior management on issues related to the quality and effectiveness of national-service initiatives.
Merisotis' work has been published extensively in the higher-education field. He has written and edited several books and monographs, and he is a frequent contributor to magazines, journals and newspapers. His writing has appeared in The Washington Post, the Times Higher Education Supplement (London), The Chronicle of Higher Education, Higher Education in Europe, The Review of Higher Education
The Review of Higher Education
The Review of Higher Education is an academic journal founded in 1978 and the official journal of the . The publication is aimed at scholars, educators, and policymakers and includes articles, essays, reviews, and research intended to better inform readers of the issues that affect higher education...
and other periodicals.
Merisotis is a member of the executive committee of the London-based European Access Network. He also is a member of the board of trustees of Bates College
Bates College
Bates College is a highly selective, private liberal arts college located in Lewiston, Maine, in the United States. and was most recently ranked 21st in the nation in the 2011 US News Best Liberal Arts Colleges rankings. The college was founded in 1855 by abolitionists...
in Lewiston, Maine, and previously served as president of the college's alumni association. He serves on several Indiana-based boards and commissions including the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership, the leading voice for regional economic development in the Indianapolis metropolitan area, as well as the Indiana Chamber of Commerce. Currently, he also serves on the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars Advisory Council, the Board of Directors of the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce, and the Indiana University Public Policy Institute Advisory Board. Merisotis' previous board service included chairman of the board for Scholarship America, the nation's largest private-sector scholarship and educational-support organization; vice chairman of the board of directors for the Washington Internship Institute; and member of the board of directors of the National College Access Network.
Awards and recognition
Merisotis was awarded the 2002 Robert P. Huff Golden Quill Award from the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, and the 2001 Community College Government Relations Award presented by the American Association of Community Colleges and the Association of Community College Trustees. He was a 2005 finalist for the Brock International Prize in Education, and in 1998 he was named by Change magazine as one of the emerging young leaders (under the age of 45) American higher education.External links
- Lumina Foundation for Education
- Institute for Higher Education Policy
- Lumina's Leader Sets Lofty Goals for Fund's Role in Policy Debates The Chronicle of Higher EducationThe Chronicle of Higher EducationThe Chronicle of Higher Education is a newspaper and website that presents news, information, and jobs for college and university faculty, staff members and administrators....
, 1 May 2009 - Jamie Merisotis, contributor to the Experts Blog on Education, National Journal
- Jamie Merisotis Twitter page