SAN DIEGO: The Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) Board of Trustees recently appointed University of San Diego President James T. Harris, DEd, board chair for the 2017-19 term. Originally appointed to the CASE board in 2015 as chair-elect, Harris will now lead the 30-member board which serves as the organization's primary governing body setting policy, establishing and monitoring CASE's annual budget, overseeing the organization's assets, and ensuring sound management of the international association.
"It is an extraordinary honor for me to serve an organization that I have been involved with since the beginning of my higher education career," said Harris. "My board colleagues and I look forward to working with CASE President and CEO Sue Cunningham to provide our 17,000+ members, and more than 81,000 advancement professionals with the support they need to advance education and transform lives and society."
Representing a membership of more than 3,670 colleges and universities, primary and secondary independent and international schools and nonprofit organizations in more than 80 countries, CASE is one of the world's largest nonprofit educational associations.
Since his appointment as President of the University of San Diego in 2015, Harris successfully led the university through an institution-wide strategic planning process. The result, Envisioning 2024, is an ambitious plan that capitalizes on the university's recent progress and aligns new goals with current strengths to help shape a vision for USD's future as it looks ahead to its 75th anniversary in 2024. Under Harris' direction, USD has identified six essential pathways that will lead it to become one of the greatest Catholic universities of the 21st century: Anchor Institution, Engaged Scholarship, Practice Changemaking, Access and Inclusion, Care for Our Common Home, and Liberal Arts Education for the 21st Century.
Prior to joining USD, Harris' extensive higher education career included serving as President of Widener University and President of Defiance College. He has held several volunteer leadership positions at the local, state and national level including serving as Chair of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Pennsylvania, Chair of the Pennsylvania Campus Compact, and Vice Chair of National Campus Compact, a national coalition of 1,200 college and university presidents dedicated to promoting civic engagement among college students. He also served on the executive committee of the NCAA and Chair of the NCAA Division III Presidents Council. Currently, he serves as a board member of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities.
Harris earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Toledo, a master's degree in educational administration from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, and his doctorate in education from Pennsylvania State University. All three of his alma maters have recognized him for his leadership in education and in 2013, The Pennsylvania State University Board of Trustees named him a Distinguished Alumnus, the highest honor the university bestows upon a graduate.
About the University of San Diego
Strengthened by the Catholic intellectual tradition, we confront humanity’s challenges by fostering peace, working for justice and leading with love. With more than 8,000 students from 75 countries and 44 states, USD is the youngest independent institution on the U.S. News & World Report list of top 100 universities in the United States. USD’s eight academic divisions include the College of Arts and Sciences, the Knauss School of Business, the Shiley-Marcos School of Engineering, the School of Law, the School of Leadership and Education Sciences, the Hahn School of Nursing and Health Science, the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies, and the Division of Professional and Continuing Education. In 2021, USD was named a “Laudato Si’ University” by the Vatican with a seven-year commitment to address humanity’s urgent challenges by working together to take care of our common home.
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