Jamienne S. Studley

Jamienne S. Studley became the sixth president of the WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC), a higher education association committed to student success and a regional accrediting agency recognized by the US Department of Education to approve institutions at the bachelor’s degree level and above in California, Hawaii, and the Pacific Rim, in January 2018. Throughout her career in higher education leadership and policy, public service, civil rights advocacy, and nonprofit management, she has worked to advance equity, access and opportunity, and public engagement and is respected for listening, collaboration, and building bridges. Ms. Studley was deputy undersecretary of the U.S. Department of Education from 2013 to 2016 and acted as under secretary and assistant secretary for postsecondary education. She was on the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI) from 2008 to 2013 (chair, 2011-13), and earlier was the department’s deputy and then acting general counsel (1993-1999). She also served as president of Skidmore College and Associate Dean & Lecturer in Law at Yale Law School. She has been professor of practice (public policy), Mills College; adjunct faculty, UC Berkeley and Stanford Law Schools; board member, Association of American Colleges & Universities; and Visiting Committee, Harvard Law School. A graduate of Barnard College (magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa) and Harvard Law School, Ms. Studley also served as National Policy Advisor for Beyond 12 and a consultant on institutional effectiveness, accreditation, and leadership. Ms. Studley's nonprofit experience includes CEO and now President Emerita of Public Advocates Inc. and executive director of the National Association for Law Placement. She serves on the boards of KQED and the Foundation for Student Success. Her volunteer activities have included chair of the San Francisco Ethics Commission and Connecticut Women’s Education and Legal Fund; co-chair, California Civil Rights Coalition; co-founder, Washington Area Women’s Foundation and Collectors of Wood Art, and board member, SF Education Fund, Mills College, American Craft Council, and Museum of Craft and Design (SF).