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AALE Holds Annual Elections

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The American Academy for Liberal Education (AALE) held annual elections on June 13, 2023. Board of Trustee member Gary Kelly, a consultant and attorney in New York was reelected for a second four-year term and Robert Manzer was re-appointed as president. A new Council of Scholars member Rudy Hernandez was elected.
Rudy Hernandez is the Director of Undergraduate Studies-Truman School of Government and Public Affairs and Assistant Teaching Professor of Political Science at Missouri University, Columbia (MO). His research focuses on political theory and American political development. Recently his work has appeared in The Political Science Reviewer. He has prior government experience, including having been in AmeriCorps, having worked as a tax examiner in the U.S. Treasury Department, and eight years in the U.S. Army Reserve.  Rudy received his Ph.D. and M.A. from Louisiana State University and his B.A. from St. John’s College-Annapolis (MD).

AALE President Addresses Illiberalism

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AALE’s president, Dr. Robert Manzer is the author of a recent report “The American University’s Path to Illiberalism”, published by the American Enterprise Institute. The report examines the slide of American universities into illiberalism – a slide, which according to Manzer did not happen overnight. The report presents the view that “the current campus phenomena we are witnessing are partly a result of a decades-long assault on the faculty’s role and standing on campus. The full report is available at The American University’s Path to Illiberalism | American Enterprise Institute – AEI

AALE Elects New Board and Council Members

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The American Academy for Liberal Education (AALE) held annual elections on June 9, 2020. Joining the Board is Ted Eismeier, Vice President at Whiteboard Advisors (DC), and elected to serve on the Council of Scholars is Lee Skallerup Bessette.

Mr. Ted Eisemeier is Vice President and senior leader in the education communications practice at Whiteboard Advisors where his responsibilities include advising education technology companies, social impact investors, and non-profit organizations on national media and communications strategy.  Prior to joining Whiteboard Advisors, he was Director of Communications and External Affairs at Higher Learning Advocates, a nonprofit advocacy organization working to advance federal policy solutions to respond to the country’s shifting college student demographics.  Currently he serves as a trustee of Harmony DC Public Charter School and a board member of Community Tax Aid (DC). Ted received his B.A. in History from Kenyon College (OH).  

Ms. Lee Skallerup Bessette is a Learning Design Specialist at the Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship at Georgetown University, where she works on the design and development of online courses.  She is the author of Found in Translation: The Journey of Anne Hébert’s Poetry in(to) English. Lee has written for Inside Higher Ed under College Ready Writing.  She has taught at Morehead University, University of Mary Washington, and is an on-line instructor at Ashland University teaching The Language and Culture of Quebec, and Composition in Ashland’s Prisons Outreach Program.  Lee received her Ph.D. from the University of Alberta (Canada) and her M.A. and B.A. from the Université de Sherbrooke (Canada).