Washington, DC – The Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) Board of Directors has announced its officers for the 2014 term.

Dr. James Wimbush, Dean of The University Graduate School, Indiana University, became the 2014 CGS Board Chair at the conclusion of the annual meeting. Dr. Wimbush has served as the graduate dean at IU since 2006 and earlier this year was also named Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Multicultural Affairs. He has been a professor of business administration at IU since 1991. Nationally, Dr. Wimbush has worked to advance graduate education by serving in a variety of leadership positions, including an appointment on the joint Commission on Pathways through Graduate School and Into Careers, appointed by CGS and the Educational Testing Service. As an acknowledged national authority on human resources management, Wimbush has published numerous articles and book chapters related to ethics in employment settings. Dr. Wimbush earned his PhD in management and a master’s degree in human resources management and industrial and labor relations from Virginia Tech.   

“CGS is excited and honored to have Dean Wimbush’s expertise at this critical point in the development of graduate education,” said CGS President Debra W. Stewart. “His distinguished leadership in a range of areas essential to CGS’s mission—from enhancing U.S. competitiveness through graduate education and research, to promoting diversity in graduate programs—will serve CGS well in 2014.”

The new Chair-elect is Barbara Knuth, Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School at Cornell University. She will serve in this role in 2014 and will become the board chair at the conclusion of the 2014 Annual Meeting. In her role at Cornell since 2010, Knuth has enhanced the Graduate School’s professional development program to focus on supporting students to work effectively with their graduate committees and to foster transferable skills relevant to academic and non-academic career paths. Since she became dean, all graduate degree programs have articulated specific learning outcomes and have implemented assessment plans focused on program improvement. Knuth joined the Cornell faculty in 1986 as an assistant professor of natural resource policy. She holds a bachelor of philosophy degree in interdisciplinary studies, a bachelor’s in zoology, and a master’s in environmental science from Miami University, and a PhD in fisheries and wildlife sciences from Virginia Tech.

Beginning three-year terms on the board on January 1 are Karen Butler-Purry, Associate Provost for Graduate Studies at Texas A&M, John (Jay) Doering, Dean, Faculty of Graduate Studies at the University of Manitoba, and Christine Ortiz, Dean for Graduate Education at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

CGS is governed by a 12-member Board of Directors drawn from member institutions. Board members serve for set terms. Robert Augustine, Dean of the Graduate School at Eastern Illinois University, will remain on CGS’s Executive Committee for one year as immediate past chair.