GARDNER INSTITUTE BOARD ANNOUNCES NEXT-GENERATION LEADERSHIP

Brevard, NC - The Board of Directors of the John N. Gardner Institute for Excellence in Undergraduate Education is pleased to announce the appointment of Andrew K. Koch as the institute’s next Chief Executive Officer. Koch has worked for the institute since 2010 serving most recently as its President and Chief Operating and Innovation Officer. He will succeed the founder and CEO John N. Gardner who will continue his 22-year affiliation with the institute as Executive Chair of the Board of Directors.

“This is an important transition for the Gardner Institute to the next generation of leadership to provide an even greater impact on American undergraduate education through its focus on social justice, student learning, and success,” said board member, Laura Rendon. She added, “We are in the ideal situation of being able to institute a clear line of succession, and to also demonstrate the Board’s commitment to continue to advance our focus on student success and equity.”

The Gardner Institute is a North Carolina-based, national, non-profit higher education organization that partners with foundations, institutions, and other higher education leaders to increase the success of all college and university students, especially those who are historically underserved. The Institute has been supported both by a diverse set of participating institutions and by the following philanthropies: The Pew Charitable Trusts, The Atlantic Philanthropies, the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, USA Funds (now Strada Education Network), Lumina Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, ECMC Foundation, Ascendium Education Philanthropy, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and College Futures Foundation.

The Institute has served approximately 500 two-and four-year, public and private colleges and universities since Gardner and Betsy O. Barefoot launched the organization in 1999 as an outcome of their many years of prior service at the University of South Carolina. Their leadership and that of the Institute staff have established the Institute as a thought leader and innovator in student success work.

Prior to his appointment with the Gardner Institute, Koch was an accomplished student success administrator at Purdue University - West Lafayette for almost 15 years. Throughout his career, his distinctive work has focused on initiatives to improve undergraduate student learning and success. In his work with the Gardner Institute, his efforts have targeted high failure-rate gateway courses and other interventions to remedy the “socially unjust design” of higher education structures that inhibit equitable student outcomes. His research and publishing have broken new ground in these domains.

Board member Louis Albert said, “It is the Board’s clear purpose and intent here to announce its vision for long-term support for the organization to continue thriving after the era of leadership by its founders. The Board is convinced that Dr. Koch is the ideally suited higher education leader to advance the organization to an even more impactful future in the generation ahead.”

Board member Leo Lambert observed: “We are in the ideal situation of being able to institute a clear line of succession. This is a time when the organization has a sound foundation, is having great success, and will now have stellar leadership through Drew Koch, while the Founder and Executive Chair remains very engaged.”

Board member Jillian Kinzie added, “This is the best of both worlds, having a new leader in whom the Board has great trust and can immediately assume the CEO duties, and a founder who will continue to serve in many areas of the Institute’s work doing especially what he does best, rendering advice on student success.”

Institute Founder, John Gardner, concluded: “I am proud of the Institute’s work over its 22-year history to advance student success and equity in higher education. Our responsible and proactive board has taken steps to further ensure the organization’s long-range future. Our mission transcends any one of us and will be sustained and advanced by our new leader.”

For further information contact the Institute’s Director of Marketing and Communications, Katie Locke, at locke@jngi.org.