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Raymond E. Crossman, Ph.D.
Senior Advisor
Chicago IL USA
Get in TouchRaymond E. Crossman, Ph.D. serves as a Senior Advisor within WittKieffer’s Leadership Advisory solution, counseling college presidents, senior administrators, and trustees based on experience gathered over decades as a prominent educator, psychologist, and social justice advocate. Before stepping down as president of Adler University in 2024, Ray was among the longest-serving university presidents in higher education, having assumed the post in 2003. Ray supports higher education leaders in confronting the most salient challenges of the day and fulfilling their roles with maximum impact.
During Ray’s tenure, Adler grew from a graduate psychology school enrolling 200 students to a university enrolling 2,000 at its Chicago, Vancouver, and online campuses. With Ray’s leadership, the university launched the Adler Institutes for Social Change and Adler Community Health Services – both supporting the health of communities in Chicago and Vancouver.
Ray has been an outspoken advocate for causes important to him. In 2017 he became the first university president to publicly disclose his HIV status. In his book LGBTQ Leadership in Higher Education, the first on the topic, Ray brought together 15 LGBTQ presidents and chancellors to consider why diversity, inclusion, and equity in leadership are important to meet today’s challenges for higher education and human rights. Among his contributions to higher education, he served on the Presidents’ Council of the Association of Governing Boards of Colleges and Universities, the editorial board of Training and Education in Professional Psychology, and the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) Institutional Actions Council. He is a past president of the National Council of Schools and Programs of Professional Psychology, a past chair of the American Psychological Association’s (APA) Council of Chairs of Training Councils, and served on APA’s Commission on Accreditation.
Ray enjoys going to the gym, reading fiction (especially science fiction), cooking Asian food, and traveling – and now more time with his husband since he’s stepped out of the presidency.
Distinctions
Board Governance Chair, Chicago Public Media
Steering Team Member, LGBTQ Fund for the Chicago Community Trust
Co-Founder and Past Co-Chair, LGBTQ Presidents in Higher Education
Past Board Member, Chicago Loop Alliance
Past Board Chair, Illinois Campus Compact
Member, Chicago LGBTQ Hall of Fame
Amplifier Award, Chicago Public Media
Visionary Leadership Award, Haymarket Center
Honorary Doctorate, Columbia College Chicago
Education
M.A., Ph.D., Clinical Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
B.S., Psychology and Fine Arts, Fordham University