A national leader in higher education, Ronald A. Crutcher is president emeritus and University Professor at the University of Richmond and a senior fellow at the Aspen
Institute. He served as president of the University of Richmond from 2015 to 2021. He previously was president of Wheaton College in Massachusetts for 10 years. He writes and speaks widely about the democratic purposes of higher education and free expression on college campuses. He is the immediate past chair of the American Council on Education, the umbrella organization for all of higher education in the United States. During his 45-year career in higher education, Crutcher has consulted with higher education institutions, nonprofit organizations, and corporations in the United States and abroad on issues related to organizational culture, especially bridging racial and cultural divides. His thematic memoir, I Had No Idea You Were Black: Navigating Race on the Road to Leadership, was published in 2021. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Miami University of Ohio, Crutcher earned master’s and doctoral degrees from Yale University. He also holds honorary degrees from Colgate University, Muhlenberg College, Randolph Macon College, Wheaton College, University of Richmond, and the University of New England.