Dr. Alfred Mueller II, dean of the Division of Arts and Sciences at Neumann University, is one of 30 administrators in higher education nationwide selected by the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) to participate in the 2016–2017 Senior Leadership Academy.

Individuals chosen for the year-long program are administrators or faculty leaders in higher education who have been identified by their institutions as having the potential for senior leadership positions. Mueller, a resident of Media, PA, will participate in an opening seminar in New Orleans, Louisiana, November 4–6, 2016, and a closing seminar in Washington, DC, June 22–24, 2017. He also will undertake a mentoring program, work with experts in various aspects of higher education administration, participate in webinars, and engage in a series of readings and case studies during the academic year.

The Academy is designed to prepare prospective leaders to assume positions as the chief officers in any division -- including academic affairs, student affairs, finance, enrollment management, and advancement -- in independent higher education.

Dr. Mueller holds bachelor degrees in communication, history, and philosophy from Wilkes University and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Communication Studies from the University of Iowa.

He has taught undergraduate courses in the university classroom for twenty years. A classically trained rhetorician, he is a nationally and internationally recognized scholar, having served as a Fulbright Scholar in Armenia and as a member of a Ford Foundation bridging project studying the relationship between Russia and the Caucasus.

“The need to prepare future leaders of colleges and universities has never been greater because the generation of people now in senior leadership positions on campus is rapidly approaching retirement,” said CIC President Richard Ekman.

The Council of Independent Colleges is an association of 765 nonprofit independent colleges and universities and higher education affiliates and organizations that has worked since 1956 to support college and university leadership, advance institutional excellence, and enhance public understanding of private higher education’s contributions to society.