Jamienne Studley

Jamienne S. Studley, President of WSCUC since 2018, has worked across higher education, public service, civil rights and non-profit management to advance equity, student success, and public engagement. She is known for listening, collaborating, and building bridges to build effective organizations and achieve policy change.

While serving as deputy undersecretary of the U.S. Department of Education (2013-2016) she helped guide its work to advance student success and accountability through the College Scorecard, accreditor policy and dashboards, the “engines of opportunity” initiative, and K-16 community partnerships. During this time, she also served as acting undersecretary and assistant secretary for postsecondary education. Earlier she was a member and chair of the Department’s National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI) and deputy and then acting general counsel.

As President of Skidmore College, Studley focused on promoting equity access and success; student research, public service, and international opportunities; and public policy and the value of liberal education. She was Associate Dean & Lecturer in Law at Yale Law School, where she helped create a model public interest loan forgiveness program; professor of practice at Mills College; and adjunct faculty at UC Berkeley and Stanford Law Schools. She also served on the Association of American Colleges & Universities board and Harvard Law School Visiting Committee, and as National Policy Advisor for Beyond 12.

In the Clinton Administration, Studley was deputy, then acting, general counsel of the U.S. Department of Education (1993-99) under Secretary Richard Riley, responsible for civil rights, education, and other legislative and regulatory issues. She was a member of the White House Regulatory Working Group and led the team that received the 1998 Innovation in Government Award from the Career College Association for promoting collaboration with the higher education community and responsiveness in federal rulemaking.

Earlier as Associate Dean and Lecturer in Law at Yale Law School (1983 to 1987) she helped create a path-breaking loan forgiveness program for graduates in public service and instituted campus projects on race and gender. She then became the first executive director of NALP (National Association for Law Placement, 1987-90), the professional association of law schools and legal employers. She has taught food and drug law at Yale and the University of California at Berkeley Schools of Law; served as executive director of the California Abortion Rights Action League, a grass roots reproductive rights group; practiced law in Washington, DC; and consulted and written a nationally syndicated column on legal management and personnel issues. She was a member of the American Bar Association Commissions on Loan Repayment and Forgiveness and on Women in the Profession.

A graduate of Barnard College (1972 magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, honors in American Studies) and Harvard Law School (1975), Studley is a member of the San Francisco Ethics Commission; Boards of Directors of the Association of American Colleges & Universities (AAC&U, Treasurer), American Craft Council, The Urban School, and San Francisco Museum of Craft + Design; member of the Carnegie Foundation Professor of the Year and Skadden-University of Alabama Morris Dees Justice Award selection committees; and Advisory Board, First Book. She was also advisory board chair, Equal Justice Works E-Guide to Public Interest Law; Legislative Chair, NYS Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities; on the Harvard Law School Visiting Committee, and Board of Directors, Adirondack Trust Company