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Melody Rose, Ph.D.
Principal
Portland OR USA
Get in TouchMelody Rose, Ph.D. is a distinguished former university president and two-time System chancellor who brings 30 years of higher education experience to her role as principal in WittKieffer’s Education and Leadership Advisory Practices. Melody uses her lived experiences within higher education to inform her work with clients, to understand their unique leadership needs, to identify exceptional executive candidates, and to provide advisory services that accelerate their success. She intimately understands the particular challenges of academic leadership today and is able to connect with boards, hiring authorities, search committees, and candidates on a personal, meaningful level.
Before joining WittKieffer, Melody was Senior Fellow of the National Association of System Heads, helping to develop the Power of Systems, a comprehensive effort to elevate and expand U.S. public university systems. From 2020 to 2022, she was Chancellor of the Nevada System of Higher Education, charged with carrying out the Board’s mission, vision, policies, and budgets. In that role she designed and led the first statewide, inclusive, and comprehensive strategic planning process in 20 years, developed public health and academic policy during COVID, secured historic levels of Congressional support, and launched a plan to close student opportunity gaps. As chancellor, Melody served as a member of Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak’s cabinet and led his blue-ribbon task force, The Community College Workforce Training Program.
Melody previously served as President of Marylhurst University where she designed and implemented a major mission revision and reverted the property to the Sisters of the Holy Names, enabling them to build affordable housing on the historic property. For nearly two decades prior, she served the Oregon University System, her final two years as Chancellor. Through two legislative sessions, she successfully secured greater resources for the seven institutions, and implemented the governor’s historic governance overhaul. Melody began her career as a political science professor at Portland State University, later becoming Vice Provost for Academic Programs & Instruction and Dean of Undergraduate Studies. She founded the university’s Center for Women’s Leadership, which enjoys 20 years of continuous operations, elevating underrepresented women into leadership roles across the state.
Melody remains highly visible across the higher education landscape, serving on multiple boards and advisory committees and remaining an active participant in conversations around the future of higher education, corporate governance, executive transitions, and more. She is a Certified Director of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD). In addition, she has completed the eCornell certificate program in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion,which focuses on improving employee engagement, counteracting unconscious bias and fostering an inclusive work climate.
Distinctions
President, International Women’s Forum Oregon (2024-Present)
Director, Chair of Development Committee, and President-Elect, Oregon Ballet Theatre (2023-Present)
Board Member and Vice Chair, National Association of System Heads (Vice Chair, 2022)
Board Member & Comprehensive Campaign Co-Chair, Habitat for Humanity, Portland Metro
Author (with Larry Large), Higher Education Business Models Under Stress: Achieving Graceful Transitions in the Academy (AGB Publishers, 2021)
Girl Scouts of Oregon Woman of Distinction Award for Courageous Leadership
Certified Director, National Association of Corporate Directors
Education
Ph.D., Government, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
M.A., Government, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
M.P.A., Public Administration, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
B.A., Politics (Phi Beta Kappa), U.C. Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA
Expertise
Presidents and Chancellors
Provosts, Deans and Academic Leadership
Vice Presidents and Officers