About Us
Mission Statement
LGBTQ Leaders in Higher Education advances effective leadership in the realm of post-secondary education, supports professional development of LGBTQ leaders in that sector, and provides education and advocacy regarding LGBTQ issues within the global academy and for the public at large.
Nondiscrimination Statement
It is the policy of the Association not to discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, color, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, ethnic or national origin, language, or physical ability and health status and other categories of human diversity and difference in its selection of Board members, officers, employees or agents, grant recipients, or volunteers.
In this spirit of inclusiveness, the Association also recognizes that some individuals who otherwise might be eligible for full membership are for professional and/or personal reasons unable from time to time to fulfill all of the requirements of membership. The members of the Association welcome the participation of these individuals in annual meetings and at other functions sponsored by the Association.
Lori Ciccomascolo
Associate Vice President of Student Success, University of Rhode Island
Erika Endrijonas, Past President
Superintendent/President, Santa Barbara City College
Kristin Esterberg, President-Elect
Chancellor, University of Washington, Bothell
Richard Helldobler, President
President, William Paterson University
Merrill Irving, Jr.
Chief Executive Officer, MBK Solutions
Nancy P. Kropf
Professor, Byrdine F. Lewis College of Nursing and Health Professions, Georgia State University
Kenro Kusumi
Dean of Natural Sciences & Professor of Life Sciences, Arizona State University
Kevin Leonard
Dean, Arts & Sciences, Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville
Luca Lewis
Associate Vice Chancellor, West Hills Community College District
Daniel López, Jr., Secretary
President, Harold Washington College
Emile Netzhammer
Chancellor, Washington State University, Vancouver
Christina Royal
President & CEO of Infinite Unlearning, LLC
Richard Senese, Treasurer
President, Capella University
Regina Stanback Stroud
Chief Executive Officer, RSS Consulting
Jim Berg
Executive Director
As of 10/20/2023
Our History.
The academy has long been richly blessed with LGBT folk, both in and out of the closet – faculty, staff, and administrators. Among them have been closeted college and university presidents, whose personal lives have not been public.
In recent years, there has been a new phenomenon: out LGBT presidents in US Higher Education. The Chronicle of Higher Education first noted three gay presidents, in August 2007. They are in the picture at right: Ray Crossman (third from left), Theo Kalikow (seventh from left), and Chuck Middleton (fourth from right, in back).
Informally, the network grew, out presidents found one another and the circle expanded to include not only college and university presidents but presidents of other higher education institutions/organizations as well.
By 2010 – three years after the first article in the Chronicle of Higher Education, these numbers had grown to twenty five women and men, all of whom (together with partners) were invited to a meeting that summer in Chicago, hosted by Roosevelt University and the Adler School of Professional Psychology. Nine presidents and five partners attended. They decided to form a new organization LGBTQ Presidents in Higher Education with the committee Partners of Presidents (POP) as a formal part of the structure.
Those in attendance decided to work in groups on such areas as mission, governance, organizational partnerships and web presence/ communications and to meet again in Los Angeles in November 2010, hosted this time by Antioch University Los Angeles. Seven presidents and three partners attended the Los Angeles meeting.
For a list of out LGBTQ Presidents and Chancellors in the United States, past and present, see this page.