Dr. Steve Robinson is President and Chief Executive Officer of Owens Community College. Appointed by the Board of Trustees as the 7th president of Owens Community College on April 11, 2018, he previously served as Vice President of Academic Affairs and then Provost. Robinson is responsible for the organization, administration and supervision of all affairs at the College as established by the Board of Trustees. Before joining Owens, Robinson served as Executive Dean of Planning, Research and Quality at Mott Community College in Flint, Michigan. In this role he was the Accreditation Liaison Officer (ALO) for regional accreditation with the Higher Learning Commission (HLC). Robinson also served as Interim Dean of Social Science and Interim Dean of Health Sciences during his time at Mott. Prior to becoming an administrator, Robinson spent fifteen years as an English professor in the Humanities Division at Mott Community College, and ten years as President of the faculty association. In addition to his experience in community college positions, Robinson also spent six years as a non-partisan elected official as City Councilman in Grand Blanc, Michigan. At four-year higher education institutions, he served as a member of the graduate faculty in English at the University of Michigan-Flint. He also served as a chair and faculty advisor in the Doctorate in Community College Leadership (DCCL) program at Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Michigan. He is a graduate of the Management Development Program (MDP) at the Harvard Institutes for Higher Education and recently completed the Aspen Presidential Fellowship for Community College Excellence through the Stanford Graduate School of Education (one of just 40 higher education leaders selected in the country). During his time in Ohio, Robinson has become a state-wide leader in higher education and transfer issues and serves on the Ohio Guaranteed Transfer Pathways Steering Committee. He is a member of the Regional Growth Partnership Board of Directors, the ProMedica Community Board, the Rotary Club of Toledo, and he is on the board of Raise the Bar-Hancock County. Robinson earned a Ph.D. in English from Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan.
[email protected] 2300 North Street NW
Suite 700
Washington , DC 20037
Phone: 202-736-5800
Keith Witham is deputy director of the College Excellence Program, where he oversees the program’s work to advance practices and leadership strategies that significantly improve community college student outcomes. Prior to joining the Aspen Institute, he was on the faculty of the College of Education at Temple University in Philadelphia, where he taught graduate courses in higher education law, policy, administration, and issues of access and equity. Keith also previously worked as senior research analyst at Complete College America and at the USC Center for Urban Education. He has co-authored numerous book chapters and articles about strategies for achieving equity in postsecondary education outcomes. Keith received a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in social service administration, both from the University of Chicago. He received a Ph.D. in Urban Education Policy from the University of Southern California Rossier School of Education.
