Benjamin Ladner's Summary
Summary:
Dr. Benjamin Ladner has been a noted educator for more than three decades. After receiving his B.A. from Baylor, his B.D. from Southern Seminary, and his Ph.D. from Duke, his academic career was launched in the philosophy department at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro, where he quickly distinguished himself as an outstanding teacher and received the university’s highest teaching award.
In 1980, he took the reins of the National Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Sciences, a prestigious academic organization founded by Phi Beta Kappa and other leading academic associations. He built it into a powerful instrument for improving teaching throughout the country, working in every state and at every level of education.
Then he moved to the presidency of American University at a time of crisis for the university in which enrollments, funding, and academic quality had dropped precipitously. Working with the board and faculty, he hammered out a new mission statement and moved quickly to restructure the administrative operations of the university. Through the development and implementation of two successive strategic plans, he led a renaissance of growth and quality at AU, setting records in every area of the university, from academic quality to student enrollments, from endowment growth to faculty and student diversity, from alumni support to international expansion. Like the institution he headed, he became a global leader and popular spokesman for educational change and cultural understanding.