NEW YORK, Jan. 21, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Council for Aid to Education, Inc. (CAE), a nonprofit developer of performance-based and custom assessments that authentically measure students’ essential college and career skills, today announced the appointments of Judith Eaton, Ph.D., and Diane Ferguson to its board of directors. Eaton previously served as president of both the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) and CAE. Ferguson is managing director, head of financial institutions, corporate and investment banking at Mizuho Americas.
“CAE is pleased to welcome Judith and Diane as the latest additions to our board,” said Bob Yayac, president and CEO, CAE. “Judith is a nationally known advocate for education and we’re honored to have her return to CAE in this role. Diane’s strong financial background will serve us as we grow our organization in the coming years. With their combined decades of expertise and passion for our work, I am confident they will enable us to further our mission.”
Eaton recently retired after 23 years from her position as president of CHEA, the only institutional higher education membership organization in the United States devoted solely to accreditation and quality assurance. As a former president of CAE, she was instrumental in the organization’s growth. Eaton was previously chancellor of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities, the Community College of Philadelphia and the Community College of Southern Nevada and vice president of the American Council on Education. She held teaching positions at Columbia University, the University of Michigan and Wayne State University. A published author, she’s written numerous books and articles on higher education and accreditation-related topics and addresses accreditation and quality assurance at conferences worldwide.
“I’m excited to once again work with CAE, an organization that played a key part in my lifelong dedication to education advocacy,” said Eaton. “As a leader in educational assessments, CAE provides valid and reliable insights to educators and institutions that they simply cannot find elsewhere. Measuring students’ ability to think critically, problem solve and communicate ensures they are ready for their next step in their education and in their lives.”
Ferguson brings a wealth of knowledge to CAE as a senior banking executive with more than 25 years’ experience in creating and directing financial institutions and growing significant revenue for banking and market products. She currently leads Mizuho America’s Financial Institutions Group and is responsible for strategy and revenue generation across diversified financial institutions, including banks, insurance companies and fintech. Ferguson is also the co-founder of Mizuho’s Women’s Network in the Americas and is actively involved in the company’s global diversity and inclusion initiative. Ferguson joined Mizuho in 2013 from Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), where she built the financial institution’s banking business and was a founding board member of RBS’s Compass Women’s affinity group.
“I share CAE’s deep passion for the value of education in helping educators prepare students with the skills most in demand by colleges and employers, today and well into the future,” said Ferguson. “I look forward to working alongside my fellow board members, adding my financial expertise in shaping the fiduciary responsibilities of the non-profit and ensuring long-term strategic goals for growth are met.”
Eaton and Ferguson join current board directors Bob Yayac, CAE president and CEO; Michael D. Rich, CEO, RAND Corporation and CAE board chairman president; Michael J. Feuer, Ph.D., dean of the Graduate School of Education and Human Development, professor of education policy at George Washington University and immediate past president of the National Academy of Education; Eduardo J. Marti, Ph.D., president emeritus, Queensborough Community College and vice chancellor emeritus of community colleges, CUNY; and Dennis Brown, group operating officer (retired), the NPD Group.
About CAE
A mission-driven, non-profit organization, CAE develops performance-based and custom assessments that authentically measure students’ essential skills and identify opportunities for growth. CAE’s flagship assessments – CLA+, CWRA+ and SSA+ – evaluate the college and career skills educational institutions and employers demand most: critical thinking, problem solving and written communication. Based on CAE’s research, these skills are predictive of positive college and career outcomes. CAE also partners with national, state and district clients to design innovative custom performance assessments that measure the constructs vital to students, educators, and institutions. Since 2002, more than 800,000 students at over 1,300 secondary and higher education institutions globally have completed these assessments. To learn more, please visit www.cae.org.
Media Contact
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RoseComm for CAE
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