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Elsa Núñez, Ed.D.
Senior Advisor
Boston MA USA
Get in TouchElsa Núñez, Ed.D. is a Senior Advisor in WittKieffer’s Leadership Advisory solution, focused on counseling today’s presidents, academic administrators, and trustees on navigating the significant challenges inherent in higher ed leadership today. Elsa’s work is informed by a decorated career in higher education leadership and a commitment to the liberal arts, learning, and strategic action.
Elsa served nearly two decades as President of Eastern Connecticut State University, the first Latina to head a university in New England. She is credited with making the opportunity to attend college more accessible to students of color and those from marginalized backgrounds. Under her guidance, the institution received several major national recognitions, including being ranked the #1 public regional university in New England by U.S. News and World Report. The institution was also awarded “Green Campus” status by the Princeton Review 10 years in a row. During her administration, Elsa forged close ties with the local and statewide communities, led a campus-wide strategic planning process, and shepherded the opening of an expanded and remodeled student center; a 174,000-square foot state-of-the-art science building; the new Center for Community Engagement; and other campus improvements.
Earlier in her career, Elsa served as Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs in the University of Maine System, as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, as University Dean for Academic Affairs and Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs at the City University of New York, and as Associate Dean of Faculty at the College of Staten Island of The City University of New York. She also held positions as a tenured faculty member at Ramapo State College, the New College of Staten Island of the City University of New York, and Lehman College of the City University of York. She is the author of Pursuing Diversity and Hanging Out and Hanging On: From the Projects to the Campus.
Distinctions
Member, NSSE National Advisory Board
Member, President's Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration
Board Member, Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut
Member, NCAA Board of Governor's Ad Hoc Committee on Sports Wagering
Education
Ed.D., Language Education, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey
M.A., English, Fairleigh Dickinson University, Hackensack, New Jersey
B.A., English, Spanish, Montclair State College, Montclair, New Jersey